There is only one appropriate question for today: What happens next? Or for me, personally, perhaps the only question is: What can I say in response to the three powerful readings we heard proclaimed here, today, on this special Sunday of 2005, this weekend of September 10 and 11, which holds so deep a meaning in our lives? Here a mere two weeks after the tragedies left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
In today’s gospel reading from Matthew, we heard about forgiving and the consequences of not-forgiving. Last week, we heard his words about correcting those who fall away from God and the consequences of not correcting others, of not heeding the corrections offered by others to us. In next week’s gospel, we will hear about the generosity of God and the consequences of not accepting the generosity of God when he showers it upon others.
Matthew relates to us the parables Jesus tells his followers about Community, about the relations of true brothers and sisters living together in Community. He speaks about correcting, forgiving and accepting. He speaks of our trials and tribulations and about the joys and gifts of God. He speaks of death and of life, death to sin, and life with Christ.
We have seen and will remember much of this (perhaps, we think, too much of this) as citizens of the United States, as residents of Texas, as concerned neighbors of Houston. We’ve experienced the tragedy of what we call “9-11.” We are now experiencing what will be remembered as “Katrina.” Nevertheless, today is also the day for each of us to look more deeply into our own personal call toward forgiveness.
In our first reading from the Book of Sirach, one of the Books of Wisdom from the Hebrew testament, we heard these words: “Wraith and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. … Forgive your neighbor’s injustice: then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. … Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.”
“Forgive your neighbor” In today’s gospel, practical Peter asked Jesus a question: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Yes, Peter thought seven times would be more than enough. Seven is, after all, the number for “perfection.” Surely, this number would be more than sufficient to show how “perfect” a follower of Christ should be in the matter of forgiveness of those who sinned against him, of those who had injured him, if he forgave them seven times.
But what did Jesus reply? It was not enough to be “perfect,” to forgive only seven times. No, instead, one must offer a tenfold return of forgiveness. Not seven, but ten times seven. And add an extra seven for good measure. An infinite number, an unaccountable number of times is required of those who claim to be his followers.
Then, as usual, to make his point less abstract, to put it in terms Peter and the others might more readily understand, he told them a story about a servant who, although forgiven much by his own Master, demanded punishment of a fellow servant who owned a significant lesser amount to him. And Jesus concluded by pointing out that the Master, upon learning of the servant’s lack of mercy, his own lack of forgiveness, gave the servant a punishment even more severe than the one this servant gave to his fellow servant. Not only imprisonment, but torture as well, until the debt is repaid.
It would seem, for some, the threat of punishment, the act of punishment, is needed to motivate a person to change! Is it out of the fear of punishment, the fear that if I fail to do what is right, what is just, I, myself, will be punished? Is it only fear of punishment that impels me toward the goal of tenfold perfection, of forgiving others seventy-seven times? Or are there higher reasons for me to change, to be merciful to others?
Based upon the Pascal mystery as he understood it, Saint Paul gave a reply in his Letter to the Romans, which we have been reading these past weeks. He reminded them and, today, he reminds us: “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” In other words, we live and die because the Son of God lived and died for us. We forgive because the Son of God brought us God’s forgiveness. He forgave us, he forgives us as we forgive others. These are the words we learned as children, words we must recognize and live out as adults.
This weekend those who have taken the responsibility to teach these words to our children and to us, the catechists among us, have been participating in workshops to learn more about their calling to a catechetical ministry. Next weekend, they will be honored here at Christ the Good Shepherd for this ministry. The theme for Catechetical Sunday this year is: “Life IS Christ.” It is equally true that “Christ IS Life,” just as both giving and forgiving are essential for the life of Christians.
● The giving of ourselves to Christ by being his face, his hands, his feet to others as we did four years ago following the devastation of 9/11 and the rebuilding, the rebirth of the great City of New York
● as we are now doing in the rebuilding, the rebirth of the great City of New Orleans
● as, together, we look forward to the coming of our spiritual city, the New Jerusalem, the City of God.
And in the meantime, what happens next? On a practical level, do we have a plan for hiring, for paying those who have fled the areas flooded by Katrina as they, themselves, rebuild their towns and lives? How do we provide them with lumber, bricks and other materials as they rebuild their homes, stores and industries? How do we afford them immediate housing in tent cities and bivouacs until their own homes are replaced? As with Peter, practical answers are needed for what are more than rhetorical questions.
There are no quick solutions, no easy solutions to the question: What happens next?
However, I’d like to leave you with a short reflection written by someone else. From time to time some of you, who know her, have wondered whether Karen, my wife, writes my homilies for me. This is especially the case for those of you who may have attended one of the Days of Prayer she gives through her association with the Cenacle Retreat House. Well, the answer to that question is: “No, she has not.” However, I would like to conclude with a reflection she wrote on one recent, sleepless morning, a few days ago.
After the media are gone with their trucks, cameras, and journalists –
After Katrina disappears from banner headlines –
After power is restored, the levees are repaired and the water is pumped out of the streets –
After the bodies are identified and buried –
After the rubble and sodden possessions are removed –
After all of that – the work begins – the hardest work of all – rebuilding lives & dreams.
The Big Easy is gone – nothing Easy remains.
They will return – first a trickle, then a flood of people – strangers in a strange land.
Hollow eyed – grey-faced – grim, they cling to each other for comfort. Where is home?
Echoes of jazz pour out of doorways on Bourbon Street and Preservation Hall.
Fragrant memories of Creole cooking fill the air.
Can you hear the tap-dancers on the sidewalk?
the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages –
the shout of hawkers and barkers?
Can you see the rows of easels lining the wrought-iron fences of Jackson Square –
with budding artists and old-timers producing masterpieces in chalk and watercolor?
Can you taste the sugar-covered beignets and the strong coffee at Café du Monde?
If you listen closely, you can hear the sad sound of a funeral led by jazz musicians.
And what of Mardi Gras with its costumes, beads and boisterousness — will it return?
Will the Saints go marching in?
I think so, I hope so. I pray so.
The bad times are here. Let the good times roll again!
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary; September 11, 2005
Sir 27:30 – 28:7; Rom 14:7 -9; Mt 18:21 – 35