Dear Parish Family,

Our Scriptures last week focused on confronting people who sin against us to seek a pathway of forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation with them. This week, the focus is on the difficulty and failure to forgive. The book of Sirach instructs us that "wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight," and "could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?" The wrath and anger that refuse to forgive are blinders of our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness.

Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his neighbor. He asks if he even needs to forgive seven times (thinking that this would be extreme), but Jesus intensifies the breadth of forgiveness: not seven times, but seventy-seven times. The point is not to count how many times we are to forgive, but simply to forgive without calculation, just like God does with us. As Psalm 103 says, "The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion," so too must we equip this divine compassion for others since this is how God treats us in His mercy. 

Jesus provides a strong parable about the debtor who had his huge debt fully forgiven yet failed to forgive the small debt his neighbor owed him. All the other servants see just how wrong it is to be forgiven yet refuse to forgive, and yet we are prone to commit this same error. Even in the Our Father, we pray "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." God's unconditional forgiveness is only limited by our refusal to forgive. If we shut forgiveness off towards others, we are in fact shutting off receiving forgiveness from God. 

Forgiving others who have wronged us is difficult, but it is never impossible. We have to begin in prayer with a simple desire, intention, and action of forgiveness: "Lord, I forgive this person. Help me to continue to forgive." No matter how insincere this act of forgiveness may seem at first, it is a great starting point that will grow over time. The weight of wrath and anger dissipates as our forgiveness opens more and more to others, because at the same time we are opening our hearts to the Lord's own mercy, tenderness, compassion, and affection. 

We can make up every excuse to withhold the gift of forgiveness (we want to stay angry, we are afraid of being hurt again, we want others to feel our pain, etc.), but it doesn't change the reality that we are simultaneously closing ourselves off from the Lord's mercy. Whenever we choose to hold onto the anger and pain another has caused us, our hands are too full to hold onto the gift of God's mercy. Let it go. 

Think back on the Scriptures from last week. After our act of forgiveness, there will likely be a need for follow-up conversations with someone who has sinned against us, and maybe even a need for space from that person until they are ready to be reconciled. However, without an initial act of forgiveness, anger and hurts just pile up. Violence begets violence. Be the peacemaker who forgives as God does with us.

St. Mary's Oktoberfest is next Sunday, September 20! These are the final days to sign up to volunteer for a few hours and get your presale tickets. Visit stmarychardon.org/oktoberfest-2026 to get the details! The St. Mary Parish App also has all the details, and a special scavenger hunt game will be available on the app, so make sure you have the app downloaded!

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow