This week...
Sept. 13 - Sept.19, 2020
St. Patrick Church
Mass times:Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:30 PM
Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM
10:00 AM
Catechetical Sunday - Commissioning of Catechists
In the Church and livestreamed on facebook
5:30 PM
Mon. - Sat.: 8:00 AM Daily Mass in the Church and livestreamed on facebook
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Wed. 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Sat. 11:00 AM: Rosary for the end of Covid 19 virus Conference call number: 717-275-8940 PIN Number 369 8340#
Saturday: Confessions 3:30 PM-4:30 PM
PASTOR'S CLASS Tuesday Evening at 7:00 PM
To log into Zoom click the link below. This week's topic: Inevitable Emptiness
PASTOR’S WEEKLY MESSAGE 24
Theme: “Unless you each forgive your brother from your heart…"
Today’s Gospel has one of the most important messages of the whole Bible. It is the message about forgiveness. Forgiveness of debt is one kind, but Jesus used this as an example of another kind of forgiveness—that of the hurt or wrong that others do to us. None of us can live life without getting hurt by others. People fail us. They put us in situations which cause us to suffer. We become sorry for ourselves, and very angry with those who bring us hurt feelings and pain. Anger, bitterness, hurt, and desire for revenge all enter our hearts. They lie there and become like poison. This is what we hear about in our first reading today: “Resentment and anger, these are foul things, and both are found with the sinner.”
To refuse to forgive is to keep that poison inside. When pride suffers, some people think they are getting their revenge on another person by refusing to forgive. They refuse to speak to that person, or if they do, it is in a cold and unfriendly way. The memories of past hurts continue to cloud our minds. Self-pity and further focusing on the wrongs that have been done to us, only adds to the bitterness we feel. And when those foul things…those poisonous feelings are in our hearts…joy and happiness go out the window of our hearts. Inside, we hold on to the memory of the wrongs done to us. And, we refuse to face the fact that we should forgive, as Peter’s question reminds us today: “Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?”
Jesus’ reply sets no rigid limits. His words mean: as often as he offends you. And to make this clear to us, He tells us a story—the meaning of which we can not overlook. We are amazed at how the servant acted with his fellow servant. How cruel and inhuman he was. We say to ourselves: “He had been forgiven a debt of three million pounds and he could not forgive a debt of five pounds?” Of course, the two amounts could not be compared!
The last sentence of Jesus’ story leaves no one in doubt as to God’s attitude toward those who refuse to forgive. “And this is how My Heavenly Father will deal with you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” We all need God’s forgiveness, but this forgiveness can be—and is blocked—if we refuse forgiveness to those who offend us. Our first reading of today repeats, again, this clear concept from God: “Forgive your neighbor the hurt he does to you, and when you pray your sins will be forgiven.” Jesus adds these words: ‘We are to forgive from the heart.’ Forgiveness is never easy and forgiveness from the heart is often very difficult. Yet, we have no choice if we want to be forgiven by God…we must forgive those who have hurt us. If we think about it, what comparison is there between my sins in the face of God’s love, and other people’s failings toward me? This can not be compared.
Most Christians pray every day…the prayer Jesus taught us…the ‘Our Father.’ Every day we say these words: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” What we are saying, in fact, is this: Lord, forgive me to the extent, to the same degree, in the same way, as I myself have forgiven others. It is said: ‘People who can not forgive, break down the bridge over which they themselves must pass.’ For us Christians, the bridge we break is not only the one that links us to our brothers, but also the one that links us to God Himself.
Let us pause for a while and think of those who have hurt us and need to be forgiven. Take the necessary steps to do so. For, if you listen to God’s voice, do not harden your hearts. Do something that will show those people you have forgiven them.