Brothers and sisters in Christ—
Today,
the Gospel reminds us about the need to forgive those who offend us. This, together with the obligation to fulfill
the commandments of Christ is the central theme of the Christian religion. Next Sunday, we will hear the Gospel reading,
which tells us about the fulfillment of the commandments, but today, we focus
on forgiveness. Forgiveness is very
important for us, because it is through it that we become like God. Despite our
serious sins above number, God is always ready to forgive us, if we turn to Him
in repentance. Our contemporary problem
is that we often no longer consider certain things to be serious sins that are,
nevertheless, very offensive to God. For
example, in the Mystery of Holy Confession, we must have the intention to
change our life. Only in this way do we
fulfill the obligation of the sacrament and truly receive absolution of our
sins. It is not possible for us to
confess our sins and still have the intention to return to our old way of life
in sin. If we do this, we do not receive forgiveness and absolution, but we
commit an even more serious sin. In a
similar way, we cannot receive forgiveness and absolution, if we have the
intention to conceal some of our sins.
We
ought to memorize this passage from the Prophecy of Isaiah and meditate on it,
so that we understand our relationship with God in repentance: “Seek the Lord
while He may be found! Call to Him while He is still near! Let the wicked man
forsake his way, and the sinner his thoughts! Let him turn to the Lord, and He will
have mercy on him,-- to our God, for He is bountiful in forgiveness.” “Seek the
Lord while He may be found” means that the time will come, when He will not be
found. We must repent now and at once,
because later repentance will be impossible.
If there is an obstacle between us and Christ, we must now and at once
strain with all our might to remove it.
For example, married people need to be in Christ, that is “crowned,”
married in the Church, sanctified by the Church’s service. According to Christ and His Church, those,
who are not crowned, are not married. Their association is sinful, rather than
holy. They are not able to receive Holy
Communion in Church, and they ought only to confess their sins, if they have
the intention to change their life. Such
people should act quickly to be reconciled with Christ and the Church, for the
Church has the means to help them, namely, the annulment of a previous
marriage, or the absolution of the Mystery of Holy Confession. “Seek the Lord while He may be found” means
to begin this work now, since certainly the decision no longer to delay is
pleasing to God. Those who have been
married outside the Church, without the presence of Christ, have committed a
serious sin, and those, who were participants, through aid and support, have
also committed serious sin. It is shocking that not a single person had the
courage to say, “This is not right.” Nevertheless, the Lord is always ready to
forgive us, if we only turn to Him in repentance.
All
of us human beings have sinful habits, which we must change, because these
things are obstacles between us and Christ.
We know that we have to destroy our passions and practice self-denial,
in order to follow the Crucified Christ.
For this same reason, we must forgive one another. No one ought to cry out: “Lord, forgive me,”
if he does not forgive others. Just as
we seek a harmony in our relationships with others, so we also need to seek a
similar harmony with God. He calls us to
take part in the one only peace, which is both horizontal and vertical, because
it unites with God and with others. This
peace is both horizontal and vertical, because it is the peace of the
Life-Giving Cross. We must not think
that we can share in the Mystery of the precious Cross without suffering, without
the pain, which comes from the death of our passions. It is painful, because we very greatly
cherish our passions, even though they are evil. We learn to wallow in their corruption, just
like pigs in the mud. The passions are
our habitat, not by nature, but by long practice, and the pain, which we
experience when we free ourselves from them is indescribable.
This
community has committed a very serious sin.
We have spurned the blessing of the Lord, showing contempt for His
commandments. Our spiritual house is
desolate. Donations to our building fund, for example, have been rendered vain
and nonsensical, since “If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the
builders labour.” Once, the Lord desired to live among us, but now there is
only the stench of death on us. We only
need to turn to the Lord, to repent and do penance. Do not think that there
will be any success or blessing at all until the Lord finds here a sincere love
and respect for His commandments. Seek the Lord while He may be found.
