This homily was preached on September
11, 2011, the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time A at Sacred Heart Catholic
Church in Salisbury, NC
I have to admit that I
was disappointed when I looked at the readings for this Sunday’s Mass. I was hoping for something different. Perhaps one of the great stories from the Old
Testament of God winning the victory for his chosen people, the smiting of
foes, the conquering of the enemy, would have spoken more to me on this weekend. Even after ten years, and most of those spent
in priestly formation and ministry, I’m still angry. Deep down in a secluded part of my heart and
soul, there is still that desire for vengeance.
It’s not justice that I want, that is the punishment of the guilty. It is not the legitimate protection of our
nation and her people. It’s vengeance,
the desire for the enemy to suffer as we have suffered, and maybe even a little
hatred, that has kept a home. Maybe, my
brothers and sisters, you and I share that today. Maybe, just maybe, as we mark the passage of
ten years since our nation was the victim of a most brutal and cowardly
terrorist attack, a few of us still keep a space for vengeance and hatred in
our hearts.
But the Lord calls us to something different.
We read in the wisdom of Sirach that wrath and anger are
hateful things, and that the sinner holds them tight. We hear that those who are vengeful will
suffer the Lord’s vengeance. And we are
even posed with the question, “Could anyone nourish anger against another and
expect healing from the Lord?” To let go
of the anger and hatred, having felt it so profoundly, held it so very tightly,
and even nourished it so carefully is so much to ask. Yet that is what the Lord has called us to
do. We have not been asked to forget
what happened. We have not been asked to
declare that which is manifestly evil to be good. And we have not been asked to forsake our
desire for justice. What we have been
asked, and what the Lord calls us to, is to allow our hearts and souls to be
freed from the captivity that hatred and anger and vengeance create in us. We are called to take the feelings and the
pains that are deep within us, and offer them in prayer for those who lost
their lives, those who lost their families and for the country that lost
whatever remained of its innocence on that sunny September morning ten years
ago.
And then the Lord Jesus asks even more of us.
In the reading from the Gospel today, Peter poses a question
to Jesus: “Lord, if my brother sins against me how often must I forgive
him?” In hearing this question that
Peter asks, we must remember that among the Twelve that there are two sets of
brothers, James and John, Peter and Andrew.
This is not a question of forgiving someone we do not know, or those we
know by only their names and actions.
This is not even a question about forgiving a neighbor. This is about forgiving a brother or sister,
someone with whom we share our very lives.
Our desire to forgive and the mercy that we show cannot remain
anonymous. We must extend that mercy to
those closest to us, those who because of their closeness to us have the
ability to hurt us the most. We forgive
and seek to forgive not so much because we want to, but because the Lord has
asked it, and especially because we have known and experienced his
forgiveness. Holding on tightly to hurts
old and new, nourishing and sustaining grudges deep within our hearts, not
realizing of course that these are not trophies but wounds that only poison us,
these things the Lord invites us to give up and give to him.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today we gather as a people
who have known suffering and pain. More
importantly we gather as a people who have known and experienced the Father’s
mercy. Let us ask for the grace today to
place any vengeance or hatred in our hearts on the Altar of Sacrifice. Let us turn to the Heart of Jesus filled with
compassion for us, and ask for the grace to be compassionate and forgiving to
others. And let us declare with our very
lives that indeed the Lord is kind and merciful. Amen.
Preached at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Salisbury, NC
