2337AFC091120 – Pardon me.
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Sirach 28:6-7 – 6 Remember the end of your life, and set enmity aside; remember corruption and death, and be true to the commandments. 7 Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook faults.
Romans 14:8 – 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. YOLO-F
Psalm 103:3-4 – Bless the Lord, O my soul! (↔ Music Link)
3 Who pardons all your sins,
and heals all your ills,
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
and crowns you with mercy and compassion
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Matthew 18:21-22 – 21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. What are your thoughts about death? Do you have a deeply-rooted understanding of the purpose of death in God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan? Or do you rather have an intellectual or even poetic notion of death as “the next level” of our existence? Come to think of it, do you ever think of it? Most of us would rather not think of it, and I suspect there are a few who regret or even disparage it. We all know it’s going to happen “someday,” and don’t want it to be today. In the past, we’ve asked “Are we really, really ready to die?” Well are we? We’ve all got to do it, but none of us is in a hurry to “get it over with.” We think about the part “They’ll all miss me.” We also think about the part about “The Big Blue Button (↔ Click Link) with a big white H” on it – “I’m sure I’ll end up in heaven.” Here’s sort of a summary of this idea from the past:
Perhaps you do not recognize the phrases in this image. The Latin translates as “Time flees, Remember You Must Die.” Look at our Key Verse for today. It is part of the first reading for Sunday, September 17, 2023, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Sirach 27:30—28:7. It speaks to us of resentments that are nurtured and fortified by the desire for vengeance. The writer is named יֵשׁוּעַ, Yeshua [Jesus], son of Eleazar, son of Sira” 
translated as “Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem.” Ben Sira wrote in Hebrew, but his grandson later translated the book into Greek. The content of this lovely book is, in many ways, like the familiar Book of Proverbs, and is included in the list of writings called “Wisdom Literature.” Sirach is warning us to be true to the commandments – always a wise thing to do. He cautions us “do not be angry with your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook faults.” Overlook faults? Honestly, compared to thinking about death, that just might be something we think even less about! Again, intellectually or poetically, we know that’s part of the Two Great Commandments – Love God and Love you neighbor. Why would God tie those two things together? Is that just something he threw in to make life more difficult?
Well, of course not. He didn’t just throw in some random requirement to keep us on our toes. The similarity between them is part and parcel of being created in the image and likeness of God. when we fail to do one or the other – or even worse, both – we are telling God, “I don’t want to be like you, and I don’t want you to tell me what to do.” That is most definitely an unwise stance, but it is regrettably not uncommon. “The commandments are such an imposition! Every little thing I do has to be checked against them to see if I’m in compliance.” When I hear that coming from someone, I hope they are outside the Church – the Body of Christ because if they are not, then they are committing a grave error. God offers pardon and peace to all. Not all will accept either or both. Once we have accepted Grace – the unmerited favor of God – then we can keep it or throw it away. This is not the venue for debating the “one and done” version of redemption, but we do know that when God sees our contrite repentance something incomprehensible happens, he forgives and forgets. (See Isaiah 43:25) We earthlings have trouble with both sides of that pairing, too.
We see it on the “True Crime” shows often – “I can never forgive her/his vicious act!” or “I have forgiven him/her, but I will never forget what they did.” That’s not the way God works (and also therefore not the way we should work). God is Sovereign over all Creation and has authority to pardon us – to graciously grant us a remission of the penalty due to 
sin. A pardon is a sovereign act by a superior authority which grants the lessening or omission of punishment. The Justice of God is his authority to expunge our guilt and retore us to his company. It requires reparation for the remission of our sin, and thus he provides us with justification that is in his capacity as The Just Judge. He grants all of the rewards and blessings of our Salvation. Sin is actually removed from our soul. Now that’s something to think about! Pardon and Justification are Graces for those who belong to the Lord, who present themselves in humility and contrition, and who accept and abide in God’s limitless Grace. As The Apostle Paul has said in our Key Verse from his epistles, Romans 14:8 – 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. So, if we live or die for the Lord, then we are ready to die, right? Well, so it would seem, but the a priori issue is that humble and contrite heart and submitting ourselves to God for his judgment – not just at the end of time – but all the time.
Jesus lives for the living and the dead; he has been both, and he rules over both. If we are living in Jesus, we are living with the living and dying with the dead. Time flees and death waits. We’re not going to be able to change that. If death is waiting a little farther down the road, we can choose to fill our lives with Life or empty our lives with Death. Life is founded in Love – Love of God and neighbor; Death is founded in indifference – indifference to God and to neighbor. Why do I say indifference instead of hate? Hate requires effort, the effort of acknowledging the other. Indifference won’t make that effort. Hate does require some work. Take, for example, the bearing of a grudge, the nurturing of enmity. I think most of us have read the story (← Check it out!) about the black wolf and the white wolf inside of us, fighting for control. The story ends with the promise that the wolf we feed is the one that wins. In everything in our lives we face the same kind of dichotomy – the conflict between good and evil, between carnal and spiritual, between conscience and consciousness of the effect of our choices. It seems to me it always comes down to picking one of two things – to be more like God or more like me. It sickens me to realize how often I make the wrong choice almost automatically. There is a better way.
Perhaps you will recall the passage from last week in Matthew 18 where Jesus set out the parameters for fraternal correction (2336AFC090823 – Marana tha!) in the Church – privately between you and another member, then with 2-3 witnesses, then with the church. If they will still refuse to repent and reform, they are to be considered as living outside the fraternity of the Saints. Nonetheless, we must always bear in mind that repentance and reform are always possible, so we forgive them. Forgiveness (↔ Music Link) can be a tough pill to swallow!
Immediately following the passage in Matthew on fraternal correction we read in Matthew 18:21-22 – 21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of 
the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. There is a similar admonition in Luke 17:3-4 – 3 Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” If we don’t, we are faking our “holiness.” Why? Why must we be so forgiving? Because, we are created in God’s image, AND THAT’S WHAT GOD DOES. We are to be holy because HE is Holy. That means we must live our lives with God in control, not us. Man, oh man, is that tough to do! We should not – must not – let our lives betray the Goodness which God puts into us so that we look like, sound like, walk like, pardon like, and forgive like HE does. As the Psalmist said, it is God who pardons all our sins, who heals our ills, who redeems our life from Sheol, who crowns us with mercy and compassion. We, too, must pardon and forgive.
We are Baptized in Jesus as Priest, Prophet, and King (↔ Music Link) and Confirmed in the Holy Spirit to act on and with the Graces given to us. In our Priesthood of the believer, we can forgive as we expect to be forgiven – “forgive us as (in the same way) we forgive each other.” In the believer’s role as Prophet, we are called upon to edify and to set an example for the sinners inside and outside the Church, to share the Love and content of the Logos with our neighbors, and to faithfully proclaim the Good News in the ways we live our lives. In our believer’s Kingship, we can pardon one another’s transgressions against us by omitting all desire for every form of retribution.
Belovéd, let us give Love, share Love, receive Love, be Love (↔ Music Link). Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift. If we receive the Gift as those living in Christ, then we must also give the gift as those living in Christ. The Apostle Peter’s question was about someone in the Church. Jesus answer says we must forgive 70 X 7 = 490 (or in some versions 77 X 7 = 539). Honestly, if we’re keeping track for that many “offenses,” are we truly being forgiving? Peter thought he was being overly generous. The Pharisees said 3 times was enough, so he figured 7 would be extraordinarily righteous. Jesus shows Peter – and us – that God never runs out of forgiveness. Remember, even if a mother could forget the child in her womb, God will not forget us; but he does forget our sins! We need to stop revolting against God. How can he forgive our treason if we continue to fight against him? We need to repent and believe the Gospel. Do not think of your repentance as the cause of your forgiveness, but rather understand that forgiveness is the companion of repentance We need to stop revolting against God. How can he forgive our treason if we continue to fight against him? We need to repent and believe the Gospel. Do not think of your repentance as the cause of our forgiveness, but rather understand that forgiveness is the companion of our repentance.
Belovéd, time is flying and death is waiting. We can choose to make the journey peaceful or terrifying. Let us choose Peace, therefore, that we may live, and live as the Lord’s! Let us forgive one another, edify one another, and pardon one another. Just so, let us turn to God and pray, “Lord, pardon me.”
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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