Forgiveness: An Inside Job

On Thursday, I became ill and tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, my symptoms are more akin to a cold or flu and nothing like the more dangerous previous strains. All this means that I am home this weekend instead of at Mass. This weekend I was scheduled to preach, but still have symptoms. A big thank you goes out to Dcn. Brett who quickly had to put together a homily in my absence. Below is the homily I would have given. I hope it helps you in your walk of healing and forgiveness.

Homily: “Forgiveness: An Inside Job”
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 17, 2023

The Gospel readings in these last three weekends flow quite nicely. Two weeks ago, Fr. Anthony shared about how we can have obstacles in our lives and how they can cripple us from a full life. Last week, Dcn. Brett shared thoughts about how we can approach people with whom we disagree or have need of correction. If you remember, trying to humiliate or get even were not the goals, but rather reconciliation. In today's Gospel Jesus continues with the parable of the "Unforgiving Servant." In a way, what Jesus was trying to share comes to it's climax in telling us that we need to always forgive and that we will receive forgiveness in the measure in which we forgive.

Allow me to offer a personal example, deleting many details. I lived in an apartment years ago and while I was away, my neighbor entered my apartment and stole various items. I started to notice that some things in my apartment were disheveled and and/or missing. I realized that someone had been in my apartment. I felt violated, afraid, and angry. After pondering on it, I realized it must have been my neighbor. Again, I'm leaving out details. Anger then became fury. So, I started wishing bad things to come upon him. Ultimately, law enforcement agencies arrested him for the theft and many other non-related things, In time, I forgave him and was able to move on. But, forgiveness was not easy to do.

When we are wronged, the resentment that follows is like a cancer that eats us from the inside. When harm comes to our kiddos and the vulnerable, our outrage can be even greater. To forgive perpetrators of those who harm us is often beyond our fallen nature.

At this point, I think I should define forgiveness in terms of when we are wronged by others. One way to put it is, the remission, the erasing, the cancelling of a person's debt by the one who is owed. When someone spreads rumors about us, we are owed an apology, right? When someone hits your car, you are owed a repair without cost to you. When my next-door neighbor stole my items, he owed me back my things. When I forgive, I decide with full will and heart to release the offender from repaying, apologizing, or in any way making amends to me. This does not mean I deny the seriousness of the other's wrongdoing, condone their behavior, forget what the other has done, or release them from accountability. When I forgive someone, its not really about the offender, but myself. I am the one who is freed from the resentments, expectations, or deeply negative feelings towards the offender. In fact, it allows me to begin again, reorienting my relationship with the other, whether by starting again or by moving forward with new, potentially very serious boundaries. Forgiveness is an inside job. Depending on the offense, it can be so difficult that it requires God's grace. The greater the offense, the greater the grace needed to forgive.

Jesus, in the Gospel today, commands us to forgive always. It wasn't just a recommendation. In fact, he goes on to teach via the parable of the dishonest steward that it is critical to our eternal well-being that we forgive. The translation from the Lectionary doesn't quite illustrate how outrageous the amount was that was owed to the king by the steward. It wasn't just a "huge amount." It was an impossible amount: 100 million day's worth of wages. But, this was part of the point Jesus was making. The king forgave the steward a debt that could never be paid back, illustrating how great is the mercy our Heavenly Father. Well, my friends, this is our situation, we, his broken disciples. The debt due to sin we owe God is far beyond us to repay. So, that is why the Father sent his Son, Jesus: to take on our sins and thereby cancelling the debt we owe. But, there is a catch: We, who call ourselves Christians, are to do the same for others, and their debt is small compared to humanity's debt owed to God. Forgiveness is a gift freely offered by God. But it is one that impresses upon is a requirement to forgive others, to release them of the debt they owe us.

I know how much I have preferred to feed my feelings of being wronged which results in a growth and strengthening of an unforgiving heart. Unforgiveness has an unyielding character about it. It hides and infiltrates our emotions and holds us captive, akin to a spirit that is not only unwilling to leave us, but is dead set against what is best for us. It is dead set on keeping our victimhood in a permanent state of being, convincing us to be hurt by other's actions. If you want to be truly free, then release the debts owed you, forgive those who have wronged you. Starting with yourself and move out from there. You may not feel worthy of being forgiven, but God does. He has proven his conviction about his love for you by dying for you. If you want to be free, be a person of forgiveness. But remember, its an inside job, and it requires God's grace which can enable us to do what seems impossible. And, when it happens, we are never the same.

Congratulations, Fr. Stephen Kenyon

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday, we welcome Fr. Stephen Kenyon who is substituting for Fr. Arjie. You might remember that last Summer, we welcomed the same person, but he was called “Deacon Stephen” at that time. I look back at last summer with gratitude for Deacon Stephen’s presence in our parish. We were in the midst of the final throws of building our new church and I was overwhelmed with the responsibilities therein. Consequently, I found myself struggling to put together any homilies. Honestly, my capacity was so diminished in this regard that I questioned my capacity to offer anything in the way of a reflection at Mass. As providence would have it, Deacon Stephen, the only transitional deacon I have received for a Summer assignment, was able to preach homilies. So, not only did I encourage it, I asked him to take over almost all of my preaching duties for the month of July, and we were all the beneficiaries of his presence and spiritual insights. I was fed and renewed by his preaching, and many of you shared the same with me. So, let us thank Fr. Kenyon for coming, once again, to help us this weekend, though not just in preaching, but in offering us the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. It is a time to be grateful for his openness to God’s calling as well as his pastoral care for us all last summer. 

Thank you Fr. Stephen for saying yes to God’s call, and welcome back to St. Anne, even if for just a weekend.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Homily: “Will You Give?”

Homily: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B “Will You Give?”

by Fr. William Holtzinger

Nov. 11, 2012

The Sacred Scriptures give us examples of people giving yet doing so with hope and expectation of God’s providential care. The widows in the first reading and the the gospel gave their last -- all they had. As I was pondering and praying about these texts, questions came to mind that I found myself trying to answer. Maybe you, too, might find some insight for yourself.

Do you have a generous countenance or do you hoard? Do you let go or must you always control? Are you courageous or too scared to go forward? Do you hope or do you despair? Do you recognize the abundance in life or can you only see the scarcity? Do you put your trust in Jesus or in politicians? Do you lend a hand or are you always looking for a handout? Do you know how gifted you are or are you overly self-critical? Are you generous at collection time or do you calculate why you need it more than God’s church? Do you invite people to Mass or are you always waiting to be invited? Do you love people or are things your treasure? Do you love or live in fear? Do you know that you are precious or do you think you are junk? Do you take time to notice things or are you in too big of a hurry to care? Do you look people in the eye or stare at the ground as you pass? Do you celebrate life or is it total misery? Do you see life as a great adventure or is it all about fate? Do you know God or just know about God? Do you go the extra mile or skip corners when nobody is looking? Do you give when ever you can or withdraw with a false excuses? Do you say yes to people and then say no later? Do you trust or are you suspicious of everyone’s motives? Do you listen or are you always talking? Are you humble when you make a mistake or do you get defensive when anyone notices that you goofed? Do you listen to and obey the sacred teachings of the Church or do you ignore the truth when it is difficult? Do you critically analyze issues with assent to the Faith or do you reject a teaching simply because you don’t want anyone to tell you what to do? Do your actions demonstrate that you value and respect the dignity of life or are you guilty of placing your own personal desires ahead of the most vulnerable? Do you stand for the truth even when unpopular or do you cower to peer pressure? Do you take people at face value or are you always scheming to find how they are trying to manipulate you? Do seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation when you are guilty of serious sin or do you shrug it off? Do you know that God has won the war or are you overcome by the battles? Can you laugh at yourself or are you always serious? Do you listen to God or just yourself? Do you assume the best or assume the worst about others? Do you bless the stranger you encounter or avoid them in fear? Do you give with no expectations or with strings attached? Do you know God’s forgiveness or feel that your sin could never be forgiven? Do you speak well of others or do you spread gossip which destroys? Do you praise God in all things or always complain to him? Do you strive to do heroic things or do you frequently play the victim? Do you use your power in order to give it away or do you lord it over everyone in order to subdue those around you? Do you seek solutions or must you be right and others be wrong? Do you treat others with the dignity they deserve or do you mistreat them. Are you living your life to the full or are you afraid inside?

These comparisons are meant to prick your conscience. Maybe they reveal who you are and how God wants you to be. The two women in the Scriptures today demonstrate radical trust in a loving God and were thereby open to encounters with God’s presence in the persons of Elijah and Jesus, both of whom revealed something about God. It may appear that these encounters were not all that important, however the fact that we are still talking about them thousands of years after the events demonstrates that they are most certainly important to the life of the faithful. Those people truly lived and their deeds are recounted for others who wish to live. Will you give yourself for others regardless of reward? Will you be willing to sacrifice so that others may have the freedom to live abundant lives in faith?

I know many people have done just that. Today is veteran’s day. Today we are reminded of all those men and women who have faithfully offered their lives in service to our country. In many ways, they also exemplify the qualities of our Catholic Faith. They were called and stepped forward in response. They were challenged not to bend to their own whims especially when things got tough, but to be faithful in the calling they had received, to discharge their duties with honor and valor, even to sacrifice their lives if need be. Today we honor our veterans. But, let us also be reminded of our own calling from God not to cower under pressure, but to stand righteous before God in service to our neighbor with charity as our first ideal. May the Eucharist you receive today lift you up and give you the grace to do and be, like the widows in the Scriptures today, a person of faith trusting even when things are difficult.