IMITATING GOD'S FORGIVENESS

Tuesday, third week of Lent/23
Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke,OP

Theme: Imitating God’s Forgiveness 

It is in the nature of God to forgive our sins when we ask for his pardon. Because God is the ultimate good, St. Thomas Aquinas argues that it belongs to the nature of the good to diffuse goodness outward. The same can be said of the mercy and compassion of God. This perfection is also infinite in God. Hence, the mercy of God diffuses outward to any who prepares himself to receive it in abundance. If we fail to receive God’s mercy, it is not because God is not merciful or unwilling to show mercy to us, but because we failed to dispose ourselves to receive his mercy which constantly diffuses outward. What is required to receive the mercy of God is first and foremost the admission of our sinfulness. Our Lord used the parable of the prodigal son to outline the important features in our conversion and reception of God’s pardon. The prodigal son understood his precarious situation outside of his father’s house, he admitted and confessed his sin in all its ramification, and returned to his father’s house. A true admission of sin and confession of fault is required for the reception of God’s mercy. Azariah, one of the three young men exiled in Babylon, praying in the furnace of fire, admitted the fault of the people of Israel and confessed openly, while pleading for God’s intervention in prayer. “Oh! Do not abandon us for ever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant, do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac your servant, and of Israel your holy one.”

 A second and external condition for the reception of God’s mercy and forgiveness is our readiness to transmit or diffuse the mercy and forgiveness we have received to others. If considered properly, this is an aspect of the result of our deep and true contrition for our sins. A good understanding of our sins or offence against God, also enlightens us on how the sin is an offence against self and others in communion with us. The parable of the unforgiving servant in the gospel illustrates this very well. The fellow servants who did not see him reciprocate the forgiveness he received made a case against him before their master. “His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said ‘I cancelled all the debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?’” An act of contrition and appeal for mercy are not successfully made when they fail to make us see our weakness in others and extend the divine mercy we receive to them. The divine mercy and pardon are well received when they are channelled to others in their weakness. Thus, the admonition to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is specified to showing mercy in the response of our Lord to Peter’s question: “Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times? Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.”

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, to contemplate your infinite divine mercy exercised in the forgiveness of our sins, so that we may become channels of it to others.   


 

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