Homily from the Parish Priest for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings for Year A: Ecclesiasticus 27:30-28:7; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35

In the village of Karamles in northern Iraq there is a wonderful 90-year-old lady called Giselle.  As I think many of you know I have a personal involvement in the work to reconstruct the community there after Christians and Yazidis and other religious minorities were driven out by Da’esh, Islamic State.  When last there 2 years ago we visited Giselle in her home, now returned to the village as the Christians are slowly moving back.  We asked Giselle about her hope for the future, Christians living alongside Moslems, including those extremists who had driven them out accompanied by inhuman acts of violence.  She has hope for the future, she said, because she is a Christian – that’s what a Christian is, and because we are called to forgive, to forgive even when it seems impossible to.   

Forgiveness is right at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and key to the flourishing of humanity on our fragile planet.  As we continue to follow Jesus’ teaching about the hallmarks of his kingdom as presented through St Matthew we’re presented with an impossible, it would seem, challenge.  In God’s Kingdom  forgiveness is always offered, even when no apology is forthcoming, no commitment to reform is made, no recompense given.  It is the mercy of God which is overabundant and so transforms human hearts.  This will at times require the writing off of debts which gives the opportunity of a clean slate, fresh start.  It will involve extending the arms of mercy to those who have hurt us most.  It is the way of reconciliation in dialogue that is needed when human ways break down.  The way of mercy.   

And it’s important to explore what this really means.  This is not about cheap forgiveness, token words such as “forget it, it’s OK”, “let’s move on”, but a deeper attitude of placing reconciliation at the heart of the Gospel.  It is the mark of honest work for meaningful reconciliation but which, as part of this honest project of peacemaking, requires forgiveness even when there is a lack of recognition of wrongs committed on the other side.  This is I think why the teachings of Christianity, the hallmarks of the Kingdom of Heaven, are so important to us as a society where we are often trapped in a culture of blame and shame, of resentment and envy.   

And indeed we see this on a larger scale too: it’s so  easy to shift the blame from ourselves to others on a broader scale be they immigrants we don’t want here, corporate forces which promote injustice, punish the weakest, or pollute the planet – it’s easy to say there’s nothing we can do to bring God’s Kingdom to this earth; or to shift our focus to friends, colleagues, family who don’t share our Christian faith or do things we disagree with and so away from my own capacity for mercy.  When something really totally evil comes along – such as the gruesome activities of an extremist group like Islamic State – it’s easy to fall into the trap of forgetting the planks in our eyes, the way we treat others different to us, our reluctance to confront and challenge and dialogue as fellow citizens in our local communities – but instead, choose the demon and attempt to exorcise it in the name of democracy or civilisation or God.   

Forgiveness according to the Kingdom of God gets to the heart of the Gospel.  How will I extend the forgiveness of God in my life this coming week?   

Fr Dominic Robinson SJ