HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C.

 

Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 97:1.2.6.7.9; Apocalypse 22:12-14,16-17:20; John 17:20-26.

“FORGIVE AND FORGET!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide

·      Today on this seventh Sunday of Easter, we celebrate God’s love for us. We are gradually winding down on the Easter season and predisposing ourselves for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We have the Holy Spirit already. But always, we can renew that desire to share more in the Spirit and to have the courage to live and preach our faith.

·       Today the church wants us to reflect on the theme of forgiveness. Science has proven that there are a lot of strange illnesses around, which are more psychological than physical. They are psychological because of the bottled-up anger in the minds of many, so much unforgiveness, so much hatred, so much malice, and so much stress and anxiety.

·       One may ask in the face of all these strange illnesses and maladies why will the church still expect us to forgive those who wrong us unconditionally (Matt. 6:12), it may be possible to forgive but is it also possible to forget?

·       Talking about forgiving and forgetting, our Lord Jesus becomes our model “I, it is who blots out your transgressions for own sake and shall forget your sins” (Is. 43:25). This is the first-time weakness is associated with God. Not remembering our sins presupposes weakness. But it is not a weakness per se, because it is a deliberate choice for our sake. God chooses not to remember our sins not because of his inability but because of his love for us as God. If God can forgive and forget, how much more you and I?

·       We may argue that he is God, therefore he could choose to forgive and forget. We as humans may not be able to do the same. Do not forget that the same God created us together with our memories. Hence, he has the best of memories, yet he chooses to forget our sins. We have no option but to forgive and forget.

·       In the first reading, Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit and fully aware of the reward of forgiveness and the consequence of unforgiveness after being beaten and stoned, in that excruciating pain, still found time to pray for the forgiveness of his executioners “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

·       For Stephen, he was in great agony, his only crime was believing the good news and preaching the message of salvation. Yet he paid the ultimate prize for them not forgetting; to forgive and to forget.

·       The second reading (Rev. 22:12-14.16-17:20), reminds us of the urgency of forgiveness because the Lord is coming to reward us all according to our deeds. Everyone will get what he or she deserves (Rev. 22:12). To wash our robes clean means to symbolically keep our hearts pure and spotless free from all forms of malice and hatred, ungodly refusal to forgive. When we vow not to forgive, we should remember that “if you O Lord should mark our guilt, who would survive?” (Ps. 130:3).

·       Unforgiveness breathes disunity among believers. The gospel reading today (Jn. 17:20-26) which is one of the farewells discourse Jesus had with his disciples and by extension all of us (Jn. 17:20), he left them with the last wish and a prayer that we all be reconciled and be united.

·       Dear friends in Christ, how can we be reconciled and united if we do not forgive and forget? True forgiveness and reconciliation presuppose that we forgive and forget. Some of us when we claim to have forgiven, merely practice avoidance. We say, “I have forgiven you from my heart, but please I do not want to have anything to do with you”, “I have forgiven you but just go your own way”. If we truly forgive, words like these cannot and should not be heard among us Christians.

·       Since we live in a human society, people will always hurt us knowingly or unknowingly, but if the Lord does not count how many times, we have wronged him, we too must learn to forgive and forget unconditionally. Yes, it is possible to forgive and forget! We may not forget people’s wrongdoings after we have forgiven them because we are human beings with cognitive faculties and sound memory. What it simply means is that when we truly forgive and we encounter the person who has hurt us, we no longer remind them of it, we no longer remember it with pains, we no longer nurse pains or desire vengeance or pray that something bad happens to that person.

·       Humanly speaking it may sound and seem impossible, but with the grace of the Holy Spirit, it is possible. The first reading says, “Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit was able to forgive his executioners. A lot of people may have hurt us too, they may have caused us so much pains and heartbreaks in many different ways, so many disappointments, and failed promise. But with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we must forgive and forget. If not for the love of God and the fear of damnation, then we should forgive and forget for the sake of our health. When you refuse to forgive, you look older than your age, you live in fear, you are always thinking and frowning, and you suffer chronic illnesses like ulcers, Blood pressure, amnesia, etc.

·       No matter how people have hurt us if we are still alive, it means that the door to forgive and forget is still open to us, today is the favourable time to do it, tomorrow may be too late. A lot of us are still living with regrets of our missed chances to forgive those who wronged us, and they are now dead.

·       The Holy Spirit is the primary agent of true forgiveness and reconciliation. We must open ourselves to be transformed: change our hearts of stones, to hearts of flesh, that we may be united, reconciled, and forgive and forget. 

·       Today, we are challenged to pick up our phone to call our long-standing enemy and tell him or her: “I have forgiven you”! Call your husband or wife whom you no longer want to have anything to do with, and say, “I have forgiven you”! We must use the opportunity today to empty our hearts of every bitterness and pain. Today we must truly forgive and forget. May God who is king, most high above all the earth (Ps.96:1.9) through the power of the Holy Spirit give us the grace to do so now and always. Amen!

·       Happy Sunday!!!