Fr Marco Lazzaron
he path of the Gospel we saw last Sunday is already challenging. In today’s Readings we are led down to an even more impervious road. Today the Liturgy of the Word explains the action plan that the disciples should follow: the first great teaching; love your enemies.
We live in times on a global level that are certainly not going in this direction: Israelis and Palestinians have lived in mutual hatred for years; Ukrainians and Russians continue to bomb each other relentlessly. On a more family level we see brothers and sisters fighting over inheritance. Husbands and wives swear revenge. Just to make some examples…
The Christian is like the salmon fish that must go not where the water flows downstream, but return to the source, therefore going against the current. It is certainly not simple, but Luke says it at the beginning of his Gospel: Nothing is impossible with God. In proposing this teaching, Jesus lived it firsthand throughout his life, but in particular on the Cross.
Pope Francis in Sri Lanka in 2019 during his apostolic visit offers us a reflection that is striking in its depth and helps us understand:
“the believer, aware of being able to do evil even when he would like to do good, has the profound conviction that God forgives him, that he loves him even when he does evil. God’s love is never deserved; it is grace, for this reason it even precedes man’s repentance. All the gospels are a testimony of the remission of sins, of the forgiveness of them by Jesus, and the faith of the disciples was able to read his coming as forgiveness for all men. From his ability to forgive, he asks his disciples to be men and women ready to forgive. The forgiveness that we are capable of giving to others is the most precious thing we have received. With a word, a hug, a smile, we can transmit to others the most precious thing we have received, that is, forgiveness. We live because we have been continually forgiven, and the living memory of this forgiveness allows us to forgive others”.
The lesson continues with an important commitment that is given to us and which we must measure ourselves against every day. “Do not judge and you will not be judged”. The way to overcome the weaknesses of resentment and judgment is to pray for those who harm us.
The antidote is to approach the sacrament of Reconciliation. By feeling the embrace of the Father, who grants forgiveness through the merits of the Son and the prayer of the Church, we too are able to be men and women capable of opening up to our brothers who have wronged us.
So no fear if we cannot forgive, if we cannot free ourselves from the dimension of judgment, let us insistently ask for this grace of being dispensers of God’s mercy.