Ordinary Time 24 - The Number of Forgiveness

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 24

September 17, 2023

The Number of Forgiveness

 

            Unless you know the Scriptures well you will miss the important reference that Jesus is making in the number of times we have to forgive. He says seventy-seven…okay, so is he just giving a cute exponential of Peter’s request? No – much more than that.

            Way back in Genesis, we have the story of Cain and Abel. We know the story – Cain, in his jealousy, kills his brother, and then is forced to wander the earth with a mark on his forehead. Cain despairs, saying that people will know who he is and what he did, and they will kill him for it. But God remarks that no, Cain will not die – and if anyone tries to kill Cain, God will avenge him sevenfold.

            Cain had many sons and grandsons, and one great-grandson was a particularly wicked man named Lamech. He said to his wives, “If anyone harms me, I will avenge him – not sevenfold, but seventy-seven times.” Instead of allowing God to mete out justice, Lamech takes it into his own hand – and does so much more harshly than even God’s justice.

            So when Jesus tells Peter to forgive seventy-seven times, the Lord is referencing the story of Lamech and making an important point – it is not up to man to exact vengeance, like Lamech wanted to do. Rather, we forgive, because in the end it is God Who will judge justly and rightly, not us.

            But wait…there’s more. If you read a different translation of the Bible, Jesus doesn’t say “seventy-seven” times but “seven times seven times” – in other words, 490 times. The original Greek New Testament is actually very vague about which one is the accurate translation…and purposely so, because 490 is also hugely significant!

            Israel’s great sin in the Old Testament was idolatry. For centuries they worshipped the Canaanite god Ba’al and his female counterpart, Ashteroth. Even after God called them back to fidelity to the Covenant time and time again through prophets and chastisements, they still continued to stray. So to correct His wayward people and purge idolatry from their midst once and for all, God allowed them to be taken into exile in Babylon. They wanted to adopt the gods of the surrounding nations – so God allowed them to be taken into the surrounding nations to wake them up and make them realize that they were truly the Chosen People who are meant to have an exclusive relationship with the True God.

            And the exile in Babylon worked! The people cried out to God for mercy…but as the years dragged on, they wondered if they would ever make it back home. So the prophet Daniel asked the Lord for wisdom – when would this exile end? God spoke to Daniel and told him that seventy years would pass until they returned home…but the sin would not be purged until seventy times seven years. At that time, 490 years after the exile is over, God would send the Messiah to make reconciliation for sins – not just for the sins of Israel, but for the sins of the whole world. And, approximately 490 years later, Jesus was born.

            So when Jesus says we have to forgive seventy times seven, He’s referencing the prophesy of Daniel and saying that we have to forgive like God forgives, since God has had mercy on all of the sins of the world.

            And there’s the important point about today’s Gospel – and the whole of the Christian life – how much we have already been forgiven for. The entire purpose of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and Resurrection was to forgive our sins and bring us into union with God. Modern-day Americans often don’t get this, in part because they think their sins aren’t a big deal. We’re generally don’t have drug dealers and gang members at St. Jude’s Church, true. But that doesn’t mean we’re blameless.

            In fact, God says through the prophet Isaiah that “all of our good deeds are like polluted rags.” It’s not so much what we do, but who we offend. Consider: if God is our all-holy Creator, the Lord of the Universe, the Maker and Lover of our souls, then in justice we owe Him our complete adoration, love, and obedience. Even small sins, small disobediences to His laws, violate what we owe Him as His creatures.

            One time St. Padre Pio was praying in the chapel late at night when he saw a Franciscan brother sweeping the church. He didn’t recognize the sweeping friar, so Padre Pio said, “Who are you? It’s late, you should be getting to bed.” The friar responded, “I used to be assigned to this monastery, and my task was to take care of the church. But I would frequently pass by the Tabernacle without genuflecting or any sign of reverence. For this reason, I am in Purgatory and I ask for your prayers.” With that, he vanished – and Padre Pio said Mass for that soul the following day, so that the soul could go to Heaven.

            God has a right to our complete love, adoration, and obedience. When we sin, we deprive Him of that right. When we sin – even small sins like gossip or gluttony or holding a grudge – we corrupt the Image of Christ that had been forged within our souls at Baptism. Jesus said in the Gospels that “we would have to give an account of every frivolous word that we have spoken.” So our sins have to be dealt with – but we could never repay the all-holy God with our paltry acts of repentance.

            So, we needed a Savior. We couldn’t pay back the debt we owed the Father – so Jesus paid it back on our behalf. We couldn’t offer God any act of perfect love, obedience, or worship – so Jesus offered, on the Cross, the perfect act of love, obedience, and worship, in the name of all of humanity. And as the Father accepted that perfect sacrifice, which reconciled God and humanity. We have already been judged and acquitted of our sins because Christ paid the penalty for them.

            When we consider the huge debt that we’ve been forgiven of, and how much it cost, then how can we withhold forgiveness from our neighbor? Jesus, the only Perfect One among all of history, could say, “Father, forgive them” to the men who were nailing His hands to the Cross – how could we not forgive our brothers and sisters who are doing far less to us? If you are struggling to forgive, I urge you to look at the Cross – you will see what price purchased your forgiveness – and it will help our hearts to realize that if He can forgive us for what we’ve done to Him, then we can forgive others for what they’ve done for us.

            In the 1300s a young Italian woman named Rita was forced into an arranged marriage with a Mafia boss, Paolo Mancini, from that region. Her mobster husband made many enemies, and their marriage was constantly tense as his family was locked in an unending feud with a rival mob family. Finally, one day, Paolo was murdered by rival mobsters, causing great grief to his family.

            But Rita, with heroic courage, publicly forgave the murderers at her husband’s funeral. Nevertheless, Rita’s two sons vowed to avenge their father’s death. Rita begged them to forgive, but they refused to listen. So Rita turned to the Lord and begged that Jesus would do anything necessary for them to avoid revenge. Just as the elder son was preparing to go off to exact revenge, he came down with a severe illness, which prevented him from leaving. The younger son, then, prepared to go…and he too was struck with severe illness. Both young men realized the error of their ways, and made good Confessions before they passed away from their illnesses. Rita, although saddened, was eternally grateful to the Lord for preserving her sons from revenge – and we know her as St. Rita of Cascia, whose mission to forgive cost a great deal, but brought peace to her entire family.

            If you struggle to forgive, look at the Cross. How could we remain unforgiving when He is the price of our forgiveness?