Sin does not have the last word. (The joy/ freedom of forgiveness)
 

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,  “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”So to them he addressed this parable.
Luke 15: 1-3

 
We live in a world of human checks and balances, a world where we put limits on other’s goodness. Those who we favor or are like us or want what we want, we bring close. Those we deem unworthy, without merit, we distance away from – we ‘write them off’ and want them to ‘get lost’. The Pharisees and scribes, we might say, take this a step further and impose ‘this attitude (way of relating)’ even to their religion/faith/image of God.
 
What we listen to in the gospel reading is Jesus’ response to such an attitude. Jesus with the use of ‘parables’ (local, familiar folk stories) reveals the true image of God which is ‘scandalous’ to say the least: and that is – God never fails to see the need to forgive. Even our most heinous sin or failure cannot be the last word. In that way, God doesn’t love only those who are just but everyone, everybody, unconditionally and always (the ‘scandal’ of God). No one and nothing can put conditions on God's love.
 

And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. (John 6: 39)

And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ This is the God we gather to worship!
 
We also see a similar image of a God who seeks in the woman who searches for the lost coin. A God who is relentless to find even one person. In the first reading, Moses gains spiritual stature as one who intercedes for forgiveness for his people and God relents (forgives). To forgive there is to celebrate freedom in God. We are challenged to do the same.
 
It is easy to live in a world of payback. If somebody hurts me by their actions, I resolve to hurt them in return. If someone offends with hurtful words, I resolve to say even more hurtful words. If people neglect us, we do everything to neglect them even more. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But Christ comes for something for something more – to elevate us even more. We must learn the courage to forgive. It is this that heals a broken world. It is the victory of the cross (self-emptying gift of love).
 
Saint Paul in the second reading has been a beneficiary of God’s mercy (forgiveness). His conversion begins here. In forgiving him, God allows him to remake his past. The second reading is like a letter to Christ for what Christ has done for him.
 
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant,
but I have been mercifully treated
 
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
 
Husbands and wives who forgive each other’s faults and start anew without rancor will discover joy. Friends who pardon the sins of a friend without enmity, will find joy in the kingdom. Religious leaders who communicate reconciliation to enemies – with no strings attached, will build the community.  All people who reject the parameters established by society by nursing hurt with their actions will show that forgiveness can transform the world.
 
‘So that sins may be forgiven, do this in memory of me’ are words we hear at the act of consecration at Mass.  At the Eucharist, Christ offers himself for Salvation of the world. May we ardently and eagerly want to follow him, learn to forgive, and recreate this revolution of mercy by the way we live our lives.
 
Lord, teach us to forgive!

Fr. Anthony Mpagi,
Pastor of Our Lady of Hope