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Feeling Down on Your Luck?

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 8: 31b-39; Lk 13: 31-35

by Dc. Larry Brockman

It doesn’t matter how the deck is stacked against you in today’s secular world.  It just doesn’t matter. You might have dropped the winning touchdown pass; burned the pot roast; forgotten to do your homework; or a whole host of other little things that make you feel sad.  All of us, at some time or another, feel down on our luck, and depressed that things are not going our way.  We might even say to ourselves- why me?  But, the fact is that none of these things really matters as long as you recognize that God loves you and is there for you in whatever your distress might be.

Today’s Gospel story is something all of us who might think we are down on our luck, should take to heart.  Some Pharisees come to Jesus to tell him that Herod is after Him.  “You better leave”, they say.  Jesus had travelled through Palestine preaching and teaching the people.  He talked about a new Kingdom- the Kingdom of God.   People like Herod wanted it to stop;  Palestine was his Kingdom- there wasn’t going to be another Kingdom if he had anything to say about it.  Jesus talked about sins and the need for asking forgiveness of sins.  He talked about believing with your heart, and not just following the Mosaic Law.  This threatened the Pharisees and the Jewish establishment.  For weeks now we have seen how the establishment was trying to trick Jesus in the Gospel stories so they could bring charges against him.  Jesus felt the pressure, felt the heat.  Jesus, whose message was one of love and hope for the future, was being rejected by the establishment despite His best efforts.  Jesus was feeling down on his luck, and unsuccessful in His mission.  And the establishment was right there with worldly advice- “if you know what’s good for you, get out while the getting is good- Escape!”  But Jesus resolved to do the will of His Father.  He knew He was there for Him.

Doesn’t this whole scenario sound familiar?  Because one of the most frequent responses we have to being down on our luck is escape.  But life is not about escape.  Living life is about facing our dragons, whatever they are, not running away from them.  We ought not to escape when the going gets tough, but rather embrace the problem- try harder.  Cook another pot roast; try harder in the next football game; renew your efforts to do your homework because you know that God is there for you.  The love of God is something that no power on earth can stop.  And you know what?  If we learn this lesson in little things, then when the big problems come along, when you lose your job; or find you have some terrible illness; or you lose a loved one; then even when these things happen, you won’t try to escape, to run away.  Rather, you will trust in the Lord.

Why?  Because “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor present things nor future things, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”. 

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Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Mal 3: 13-20b; Lk 11: 5-13

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Appearances can be deceiving.   

 

Take, for example our first reading.  People who are Godless; lie and cheat; and even appear to be proud of their evil ways seem to be prospering in Malachi’s time; whereas the God fearing, law abiding, prayerful disciples of the Lord, who are victimized by these evil doers,  just seem to suffer more and more because they are not following the ways of the world.  But all of this is just appearances.  Malachi goes on to give voice to God’s intent.  He says those who trust in the Lord will be vindicated  “On the day the Lord takes action”.  And the key here is trust- trust that the Lord will respond to our prayers and honest attempts to be righteous in His sight   

 

The Gospel is telling us the same thing.  One can read the Gospel parable too literally, and miss the main point.  The parable of the persistent neighbor can be viewed as a lesson by comparison.  We can draw that conclusion by comparing the response of the home owner to persistent attempts by his neighbor versus a less persistent approach by the neighbor.  And certainly that message applies.  The home owner will respond better to the persistent neighbor by comparison.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease!   

 

But the main message of the parable is one of contrast, not comparison- the contrast between a human person who hears an appeal and an all loving God who hears an appeal.  You see, we can relate to the role of the home owner.  We don’t want to be bothered; we don’t want our families disturbed during the middle of the night; and we are sleepy and want to go back to sleep.  But God is not sleepy, and He loves all of His children equally.  He hears our appeals and acts on them- persistence helps, but God really only has to hear our prayers once.  We can be certain of that if we believe in God.  So, there is a tremendous contrast between us, as humans, and God.  How silly it is for us to think of God hearing our appeals for help in the same way we view a neighbor hearing our appeal.   

 

So then, why doesn’t God seem to respond to us when we ask Him for something?  Well, because appearances can be deceiving.  Let me turn Jesus’ words around a bit.  Could it be that we are asking for a snake rather than a fish?  Ask yourselves this.  Have you ever asked for something from God, not received it, and then found out later that it was better that you did not get what you asked for.  Maybe you didn’t get one job offer, but then the next one was even better.  Or has something happened that seemed like a disaster at the time; and then later you found out that it was actually a stroke of luck- like the passenger that missed an airplane, only to discover that the plane crashed.  These are easy to see, but God always sees the whole picture, even in the subtle little things we cannot ever hope to see.   

 

God loves all of us, but, yes, indeed, appearances can be deceiving.    

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The Sin of Pride and Satan

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Rev 12: 7-12ab; Jn 1: 47-51

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

The accuser of our brothers was cast out!  Have you ever really thought about that- about the accuser being the Devil, and being cast out?  And according to this account, it was because of the accusations that he was cast out.  Now to be sure, all of us humans can be accused of sin.  And Satan, a creature of God at the beginning, was highly regarded until this incident, when the accuser of man was cast out along with his minions of angels.  Why?

 

Imagine for a moment that you are an angel created as a much more sophisticated being than mankind.  Then God creates these human creatures so much below you in intelligence and understanding and power and capability.  Not only that, they are limited in their existence to a single planet in a primitive physical world in a small galaxy in a huge universe.  And yet, even after their fall from the Garden of Eden, God plans to grant them access to heaven- the same as you.  So Satan, endowed with such superior powers, maybe only second to God before his fall, sees all man’s shortcomings, reports them to God and accuses them of these shortcomings.  You are Satan the great accuser.  Now the name Satan means adversary.  So Satan not only accuses, but becomes our adversary.   

 

And that is what was wrong with Satan.  Satan was proud- he committed the sin of pride.  His pride made him an adversary of God’s creation rather than an honest reporter.  That’s why Satan was cast out of heaven.  Simply put, Satan had a holier than thou attitude; he resented the imperfections of others; and it led him to a consuming attitude of superiority mixed with despise for mankind.  But God in His goodness had other “sheep” in his flock besides angels; sheep that were not as capable as angels.  And God chose to love these other, less capable creatures too.  It was, and is, after all, God’s business who He loves.   

 

The question for us is this.  Does Satan’s sin sound familiar?  Have you ever felt the way Satan feels about others.  Surely, there are people out there less capable, less fortunate, and less devoted to God than you; but we cannot have Satan’s attitude about such people- an attitude of self-righteousness and despise for others.  Rather, we need to put on Christ’s attitude- an attitude of acceptance of His fellow man no matter their station in life, color, intelligence, or looks; and for that matter, no matter their pattern of behavior.  Jesus, who is God, did not choose to be self-righteous and to despise mankind, but rather, to love us.  Certainly, we do not copy or support behavior that our conscience tells us is wrong.  When Jesus encountered sinners, he certainly did not support their sinful behavior, but He did not condemn them either.  Rather, he converted their hearts to repent and to follow His pattern of behavior.   

 

The Gospel story is all about Jesus choosing an ordinary man, Nathanael, from amongst a host of possible people.  Nathanael was chosen because Jesus saw his heart, not his appearance.  Jesus saw his heart, not his talents.  And Jesus saw his heart, not his weaknesses.  That’s why He said of Nathanael- “There is no duplicity in him.”   

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The Evils of Procrastination

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

Hag 1: 1-8; Lk 9: 7-9

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

There are lots of Procrastinators out there!  People that put off doing things.  They may even mean well; but even with the best of intentions, they just never seem to get around to it.  And so, they procrastinate.   

 

The people of Haggai’s time were procrastinators.  They had promised to build the Lord a House; but they kept saying that the time was not quite right.  Haggai is trying to rouse them- to get them off of their duff and into action.  He plays on their guilt, tries to shame them into action.  And what makes it worse- it is a collective effort that is being held up.  Building the temple requires cooperation from many of them.  But all of them were procrastinating.   

 

You know, it is easy for us to get into such a rut too.  We tell ourselves we need to plan properly; or we need just a few more assets; or we need a better time when other things are not pressing.  And so, we do not act as individuals.  And before you know it, days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years go by, and whatever it is that we had the best intentions of doing, remains undone.  Maybe it is reconciling with a loved one; or making a basic change in our lives to get out of a rut; or even going on a diet.   

 

Today, let us reflect on our spiritual life in particular.  Are we putting something off there, something we know we should do, but just haven’t gotten around to?  Maybe it’s a nagging feeling that we should join a ministry; or sign up for adoration; or a discussion group; maybe even join a group that is involved in social action.  Maybe it’s a retreat, like Emmaus or Cursillo, that we feel called to do, but keep putting off.  And maybe it’s something really basic, like just making the effort to do morning and evening prayer consistently.  But whatever it is, this first reading really calls us to reflect on our tendency to procrastinate- and get beyond it.

 

And there is something more, too.  Because collectively, if we were all individually motivated and involved just a bit more, what a difference we could make.  Like the people of Haggai’s time, we could build a temple for the Lord,  Maybe not a physical temple, but we could do something that makes a difference in society that would give glory to God.  Let me give you an example:   

 

Last year, Holy Family’s Respect Life Organization made a collective effort to sponsor Pro-Life billboards in the Orlando Area.  It took the efforts of a group of people just like you and I- an organizer, someone to do research, a fundraiser, and some people who generously responded.  But it was a handful of people who just decided they were going to make it happen.  As a result, six pro-life billboards were sponsored around the Orlando Area.  Lots of people noticed- our Bishop was one of them.  So, we really can do something that makes a difference if we do not procrastinate.   

 

I can’t help thinking of what a difference it would have made, if Herod in today’s Gospel story  really had made an effort to see and listen to Jesus. 

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Obedience Through Suffering

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Our Lady of Sorrows

Heb 5: 7-9; Lk 2: 33-35

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Suppose that at the Baptism of your Child or Grandchild, the priest or deacon had said:  “Your child is destined for the rise and fall of many in this country.  He will stand for a cause that will be contradicted, and you will feel like a sword has pierced your heart.”.  Wow! That would be a pretty heavy prophecy; and pretty hard on you.  Well, that’s what Mary and Joseph heard when Jesus was presented to the temple.  Both of them had been visited by the angel Gabriel and told how Mary would have a child and then Gabriel had promised great things- the birth of the Son of God- the savior, the anointed one, the Christ.  But now this- a prophecy that had to make Jesus’ parents very sad. 

 

And then there is our first reading.  We hear how Jesus, the Son of God, prayed to His Father, and although He was heard, even so Jesus had to suffer.  Paul says that it was through that suffering that Jesus learned obedience. 

 

Now we know that Mary, and certainly Jesus, led ideal lives in the eyes of God the Father.  And yet, these most perfect of humans suffered- both of them.  And that suffering was a combination of both mental and physical suffering.  In both cases, they learned to be obedient even in the face of suffering.  It was not a self-inflicted suffering; but rather, it was the suffering that results from being obedient to the will of God.

 

It seems to me that all of us need to learn the same lesson.  All of us are born with a cross to bear- something that it is an integral part of our journey to salvation, something that we suffer with through no fault of our own.  Some of us have limitations- handicaps of some kind;  some of us are not gifted athletes; some of us are not the best looking; some of us are as not brilliant; and the list goes on and on.  But each of us is unique and that means that along with whatever limitations we have that are uncomfortable to us, and indeed, cause us suffering,  we have some kind of special gift or gifts- a talent, a feature, maybe even just a gift of time, that others may not have, because God loves each of us equally, and has chosen those gifts for us.  

 

This summer I met a man who was an avid skydiver.  He also didn’t believe in God.  He told me that 8 years ago, he had a dreadful motorcycle accident and broke his back in multiple places.  He was in the hospital for a year.  He had devoted his life since to physical rehabilitation so that he could ride that motorcycle again and go skydiving.  He was quite proud of himself because he succeeded and is now doing both.  But I wonder.  God gave him another chance- a wake-up call, if you will, a chance to learn from his suffering to be aware of God’s presence in his life so he could be obedient to the will of God.  And yet, this man has devoted his life to things of this world, determined to “beat the rap” and do what he wanted in this world.  And he is even blind to the role God plays in his life. 

 

Today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, let us resolve not to be blind to our suffering;  but rather, to learn from it to be obedient to the will of God. 

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God is With Us

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Romans 8: 28-30; Mt 1: 18-23

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Yes, indeed- God is with us!  And what should be so very special to us is what that means.  You see, the incarnation- the fact that Jesus, consubstantial with the Father for all time, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and became man, is unique to Christianity, and offers us all tremendous hope.  God literally sent Himself, through His son, to be with us- that’s what Jesus’ name means, God is with us.  And so, we have the first hand example of how we should behave so that we are pleasing to God- we need just behave as Jesus did.  Because we can be sure that Jesus, true God and true man, is the ideal role model.

   

Now we also know that it is possible to be righteous in God’s eyes because Jesus’ mother Mary did not sin.  That is why God chose her to bear His son Jesus.  So, if Mary can live a virtuous life, then theoretically, so could all of us.

 

You know, I have 4 children and 9 Grandchildren.  And I think sometimes about how much influence I have had as a parent, and continue to have as a Grandparent on my Children and Grandchildren.  It is a very sobering thought.  Because when we become Parents and Grandparents, we are directly responsible for the way our innocent Children and Grandchildren first learn about life.  They absorb everything we say and do; and they emulate what we say and do.  Our presence is essential for their well-being and their learning. 

 

Jesus’ mother, whose birth we celebrate today, had that kind of influence on Jesus.  She taught Him everything about how to live as a human- all the same things that we have to teach our children.  Clearly, Mary’s role in the life of Jesus was critical in that sense.  But even more to the point, think of the awesome responsibility that was.  Well, it is the same way for all of us- an awesome responsibility.  

 

And yet the life of Jesus and the Gospel that tells His story should give us all hope.  And that hope is summarized in today’s first reading.  If we can, as St. Paul puts it, love God as Jesus shows us in the Gospel and do His will, that is, live according to His purpose as Jesus did; then we are foreknown and predestined to be in the image of His son.  Our hope is that we have heard His call and responded to it.  We are called to a career, to a relationship; and to use certain talents; but in addition, for many of us- indeed most of us, we are called to raise a family.   Our hope is that by living our calls to do God’s will according to the Gospel, we can know that we have been justified by Jesus.  So that when we die, we will be Glorified in the Kingdom of God. 

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God is Always There for You

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Thursday of 13th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 44: 18-21, 23b-29: 45: 1-5; Mt 10: 7-15

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

It sounds like a clear condemnation from Jesus, that those who don’t listen to his Evangelists, are doomed to be condemned and condemned harshly.  He even says it will go worse for them than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  And those people were violently destroyed!  

 

And yet, look at the mercy God the Father through Joseph bestowed on Jacob’s other errant sons.  These men definitely did not follow the will of God when they sold their brother Joseph into slavery.  But Joseph says at the end of this reading:  “It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you”, making It almost sound like God willed that Joseph be sold into slavery!   

Indeed, there is such a contrast between these two readings and it’s kind of in reverse compared to the norm we are used to where the God of the Old Testament seems harsher,   and the God of the New Testament seems more merciful.  So, what gives? 

  

Well, I think that people are challenged to live the life that God intends for them- God’s will for them, alright.  But let’s face it- things happen.  Fortunately for us, when we sin, life is not like what happens if you fall off a tall building.  God does cut us some slack.  Each moment of our life God is there offering us a new plan to repent and harmonize ourselves with His plan, even as we go wrong.  It is kind of like these new GPS devices in our cars.  When you make a mistake, the device right away calculates a correction.  Oh, we have to face the consequences of the mistakes, alright, just like the consequences of missing our turn or exit on the road.  But the correction is offered to us by God immediately, relentlessly merciful in His approach, just like these GPS devices offer us an alternative right away.

   

Jacob’s sons made a big mistake, and they had to face the consequences.  One of those consequences was the famine that they experienced as a family.  Fortunately for them, it was in God’s plan to bless Joseph as he was offered his alternate path to God’s plan for him once he was sold into slavery. 

  

What God teaches us in the New Testament is that He hates to be ignored, not listened to, put on the back burner, and rejected.  It is then that His attitude is severe.  The Evangelists in the Gospel are commissioned to spread the Good News.  But when folks ignore it and reject the Good News, they are turning their back on the constant reform that is offered to them.  Jesus is advising His Evangelists to be harsh under these circumstances.  But to those who listen, who are in tune with God’s ever present urges to respond to Him even as we fail, God will be merciful and kind to us.

 

And that’s the Good News.  No matter what you’ve done; God is always there for you, even in the midst of your sin, urging you to repent and make a correction.  And just like Jacob’s family in the Old Testament story, you will be blessed when you get back on track. 

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Passing on Authority

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Thursday of 13th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 22: 1b-19; Mt 9: 1-8

Dc. Larry Brockman

Authority, Jesus spoke with authority; and Jesus acted with authority.  The dictionary says “authority” means: “the power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the actions of others”.  The Father gave Jesus “authority” here on earth to forgive sins, heal people, and work miracles.

Now many of the protestant sponsored translations use the word “power” instead of authority in this Gospel.  But there is a difference between power and authority, as you can see from the definition. Jesus had the power alright- but the sense of the word was that Jesus also had the right to the power hence he had authority. The civil “authorities” had authority given by the emperor or some other civil leader.  But Jesus had authority by virtue of the God the Father.

Now the civil authorities couldn’t do what Jesus did- they couldn’t heal the paralytic; and they certainly couldn’t forgive sins.  That much the people realized- that’s why they accused Jesus of Blasphemy-  because they recognized that only God could forgive sins.   Jesus validates his authority to forgive sins, with all the unseen effects of such a power, by working a physical miracle, the effects of which could be seen by all.

Let me ask you a hypothetical question:  Put yourself into the shoes of the paralytic for a moment.  You have been paralyzed and unable to cope in a primitive society for as long as you can remember.  Which would make you feel more at ease, more exuberant, more joyful; and more thankful: if Jesus had told you your sins were forgiven, or if Jesus healed your paralysis?  Being the humans that we are, most of us would probably say the physical healing.  We can only visualize vaguely what a truly wonderful thing it would be to know for sure that our sins were forgiven.  But to get up and walk and to be independent of a crippled life style- ah, that is something we could all easily appreciate.  And yet, it is clear that, literal as the paralysis might have been for the person in the Gospel story, the Gospel uses paralysis as a metaphor for an even more crippling condition-  The condition that all of us wish to avoid where we would be paralyzed to reconcile our sinfulness with God.  And if we die without first reconciling with God, we would be in that sorry state.

As Catholics, we are taught over and over again that life in this world is not what life is all about. Rather, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting in Kingdom of God are.  But life in this world, well, it’s almost as if it paralyzes us!  It occupies most of our thinking and doing and being to the extent that we are paralyzed from moving into the Kingdom of God.

Later in the Gospel, Jesus passes on his authority to forgive sins to His Apostles, and through them, to our priests of today.  The Priests exercise that authority, and it’s called the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, and Confession; and it’s a sure-fire way for you and I to achieve harmony with God. It is more powerful than being cured of our earthly physical woe because it frees us from our spiritual paralysis.

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Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands!

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Thursday of 12th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 16: 1-12, 15-16; Mt 7: 21-29

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Sarah took things into her own hands rather than trust in God.  And what a mess it made of things, too.  She reasoned that the Lord made her barren- it was His fault, and so, feeling sorry for herself and her husband, she takes matters into her own hands.  She does what almost all of us would think as unthinkable-  she sets her husband up with another woman so he would have an heir!  And that resulted in a sad chain of events characterized by pride and arrogance; and jealousy and abusiveness, to name just a few.   

In the Gospel, we hear about what it means to really know God.  As Jesus explains it, the real test about how well we know God is not how much we know about Him; neither is it how much we do in His name; rather, the real test is whether we are in tune to what the will of God is for us.  The story about Sarah teaches us the practical side of that. Because no matter how hard it is to understand, and no matter how difficult it may seem to be to do, the will of God is the best that can possibly be for us- always.  You see, the flip side of the matter; that is, taking matters into our own hands and trying to control life ourselves, will always result in a disaster because there are consequences that always happen when we run counter to God’s will.  In Sarah and Haggar and Abraham’s case, the near term consequences were described for us and they were painful.  But, if you are familiar with history, then you know that the long term consequences of this incident plague us even today in the form of relations between Judeo-Christian and Moslem peoples.   

The sin here is not the relations between Hagar and Abraham.  That was actually an allowed custom in Abraham’s time.  Rather, it was a lack of patience and a lack of trust in God’s will.  Ironically, shortly after the Haggar incident in Genesis, the Lord appears to Abraham and guarantees that Sarah will bear him a Son.  So, patience and trust would have prevailed.

Still, this incident raises a question about discernment.  When, for example do we accept that God does not will something for us-  like having children or getting a job or having some special possession- so we can move on to something else versus continuing to wait for what we pray for in the joyful expectation that our prayer will still be answered?  Well, the advice Jesus gives us is this: build your foundation on solid rock.  In other words, focus on something that centers you and keeps you always on firm ground.  Having the right two way relationship with God means listening and waiting for His input back to you no matter how long it takes.  So being patient and trusting in God’s will is just such a foundation.   If you find yourself moving off in some other direction out of impatience or anger or frustration or any other such negative reaction, then it is probably not God’s will for you. 

You can avoid the turmoil that happened in the story about Sarah and Hagar because when the rains come and the wind blows around you in your life, the events that set the consequences in your life, so to speak, you will be safe on your foundation- trust in God’s will for you.   

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Forgiveness Out of Love

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Thursday of 11th Week in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 11: 1-11; Mt 6: 7-15

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Forgiveness!  This morning, Jesus puts unmistakable emphasis on Forgiveness.  First he teaches us how to pray:  Keep it simple- say what you mean; and don’t babble.  Give praise and Glory to God; and recognize that God’s will is best for us.  That is followed by the forgiveness part:  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.  And finally, “deliver us from evil”.   

But notice that after the prayer, Jesus is very explicit that we will not be forgiven unless we forgive. Wow!  And that is the hard part, isn’t it, at least speaking for myself.  Yes, it is hard for me to forgive people who continually hurt me.  And it seems as if there are some people out there who are determined, even dedicated, to be contrary over and over again.  And no matter how many times I tell myself to forgive them, something will come up again, and yet again.  I saw a movie yesterday that illustrates what I mean.  There was a person who played the violin each night just because he knew it irritated his neighbor.  When the neighbor died; this man stopped playing the violin!  In fact, he became depressed because he had derived such pleasure from tormenting his neighbor,  that he didn’t know what to do with himself when the neighbor was gone.     

I bet that all of you out there have this kind of problem with someone.  As a parent, we hear our kids complain about their brothers and sisters teasing them or hitting them or something;  And nagging parents or spouses or siblings fit this bill; so do many bosses or clients or teachers.  And then there are the politicians!     

But you know, we are often blind to our own weaknesses, and so, it is fair to say that we are all probably a thorn of this kind in someone else’s side too- all of course, except me!  I never do anything to irritate anyone else!    And that brings me to Jesus’ main point- humility.  Forgiveness and humility go hand in hand.  All of us need to forgive everything everybody else does to us no matter how often it is done or how sinister it is, because all of us are sinners and are guilty of the same thing.  When, in all humility, we recognize the fact of our sinfulness, even though we may be blind to the depth and details of that sinfulness, then we can make a true confession and expect to be forgiven by God.  But, that humility demands that we forgive others as we would hope to be forgiven, otherwise,we are not being honest in our own relationship with God.   

In our first reading, Paul demonstrates the kind of forgiveness I have been talking about.  Paul has put himself out for the Corinthians.  And yet, they have challenged his authority; they have listened to others preach behind his back.  And yet Paul forgives them- he writes them and asks for a return to harmony.  At the end of that reading, Paul says something very profound.  He tells us why we must forgive others.  We need to forgive for the same reason that Jesus forgives- out of Love. 

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