Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

This is a story about forgiveness. It is also a theology of God—God in relationship to us, very close to us. Forgiveness is a way of tremendous creative power, for the one giving and the one receiving. It is a Godly ability: human in its need and expression, Godly in its power to transform lives and communities!

The elder son in today’s gospel stands for society and for each of us. He represents the human reason and logic which says: ‘There has been a wrong, an injustice and it must be righted!’ Yes, forgiveness does not deny evil, that an injustice or wrong that has been done. And neither does it overlook the place of justice, a balance that needs to take place. But Godly forgiveness knows that only God sees the whole picture. For example, can I know the serious formative influence that affected me in my infancy and childhood? Or, what part can I assign to heredity, physical condition, or passion to my actions? Certainly, there is freedom in human actions and people are responsible. But there is also a mystery of iniquity and so much we do not understand. On the other side of death, we will see things so differently.

This “seeing” begins here on earth. Here we are given the opportunity to see in the light of Christ. In Christ, we are in a communion of forgiveness. This applies first to our most immediate neighbors, our family, our parents, our brothers and sisters. It applies to the people we live or work with.

This communion in forgiveness works like leaven in dough, in the Eucharistic Christ: Christ gives us the Holy Spirit in our depths. Without this Presence, we will not forgive but only increase pride’s self-dependence. This leavening is a divine work of re-creation: God remaking our hearts and our world. It works from the inside out, beginning with our thoughts, and moving into our words and actions.

So, the first “world” that the Eucharist aims to touch and transform is our inner world. We must observe our thoughts. So often they pull us around, full of absolutes: ‘She never says a kind word!’ ‘He is always late!’ “Never” and “always”: these are words that blind us to the possibilities of forgiving.

We guard against them and allow God into our thoughts: ‘Thank you for dying for me.’ ‘Thank you for forgiving me.’ ‘Please forgive me my sins.’ God is as real in our lives as forgiveness is a leaven inside us. Let us enter the divine stream of forgiveness and we will become, not programmed human beings, but free, creative forces for good. We will even begin to forgive ourselves for not being the ideal human being we think we ought to be!

Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB