FORGIVENESS FOR DUMMIES

 INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of Pentecost  is, “Forgiveness for Dummies.”

I want to preach on the last line in today’s gospel, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

That’s John 20:23.

That’s “Forgiveness for Dummies.”

Simply put: we have the power to forgive and we have the power to  retain - to let go of or to hold onto hurts, mistakes, disasters, dumb moves in our past - whether we did them or they were done to us.

Come Holy Spirit. Don’t let us be dumb - refusing to accept forgiveness and to forgive each other - as we pray in the Our Father each day.

JOHN 20:23

John 20:23 has been understood in various ways down through the centuries. For starters Jesus is telling his apostles in that Upper Room that he is bringing peace and forgiveness and healing to them. Then he is sending them out to do the same thing to others. They are to bring peace to those outside that room - to bring peace to our world. He is telling them to receive the Holy Spirit - especially the Spirit of forgiveness from God and from others.

The apostles and disciples had locked themselves up in that Upper Room. They had run from Jesus. They were filled with fear. And into that mess - into that death - into that chaos of losing their leader and their hope - who was crucified -  the Risen Lord Jesus came back from the dead. He comes into their center - into that shut room - and breathes new life into them. 

This is a post- resurrection story. As St. Paul will put it, if Christ didn’t rise from the dead, we’re still dead in our sins. [Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:17]

Just as Jesus had died - so too the disciples had died in their own way. Jesus comes and does what God the Creator did in Genesis: remolded, reshaped, refashioned them, breathing new life into them.

This story in The Gospel of John mirrors the scene in the first book of the Bible, Genesis - when God creates Adam out of the clay and the mud of the earth - and breathes life into him.

Both moments are a new beginning in human evolution - told in Biblical ways.

This story in The Gospel of John also mirrors the second book of the Bible, Exodus, when the Israelites escape, exit, run, leave their lives as slaves in Egypt and head down the road towards the waters - to escape through those waters to the other side - to become a new people - heading towards the Promised Land - getting past their past.  It’s a Passover. [Cf.  Exodus 13: 17 to 15:21.]

So too the apostles in that Upper Room escape - head out of there - make an exit from Jerusalem - and start new communities - called Christians  - people renewed from their past by the waters of Baptism and  working towards making this world a Promised Land for all.

Many people get stuck in the past - in personal tragedies. Christianity is about the promise of a new life - to Passover the Past - over and over and over again - and live a new Promise.

And one of the keys is the ability to forgiven and accept forgiveness.

So the disciples did just that: bringing forgiveness to people.

It started with Baptism - the ritual washing - cleansing - of people - from their past. If any of you have received the Sacrament of Baptism as adults, you know you heard that Baptism washes and cleans us of our sins - all the sins of our past - and we don’t have to go to confession for starters.

You have also learned what Catholics know - we have the powerful Sacrament of Penance - the Sacrament of Reconciliation - when people can be forgiven - cleansed of mistakes - after Baptism.

Don’t we all? Don’t we all? Don’t we all? Don’t we all make mistakes and commit sins after our baptism?

Different Christian Communities accept the sacrament of Baptism but they have had problems with the Catholic Church’s teaching about the Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation. [1]

Where are you with your Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation? What are your needs? What’s in your wallet? What’s in your past? Where do you need to be washed and showered with forgiveness? What do you want your future to look like? What do you want to see as promising?

IF NOBODY ELSE WOULD FORGIVE ME

When we were studying the Sacrament of Confession in the seminary I was struck by an insight our Dogmatic Theology professor gave us one day. He said, “It’s important, it’s wonderful, if we could go up to each other and say, ‘I’m sorry! I made a mistake!’ And we confess our sins to each other and it would be great if the other forgives us.” [Cf. James 5: 16]

Then he added: “What happens if the other won’t forgive us?  What happens if we told the other what we did and it would destroy everything?  It’s in situations like that, that the Sacrament of Reconciliation - Confession - is really, wonderfully, powerful.”

I heard that in a classroom before I became a priest. Then as priest I have discovered that to be very true.  As priest I have heard people in confession breathe out a sign of relief - after confessing a sin. I’ve also heard them repeat that breath of fresh air when they hear the words of absolution - as their sins are forgiven.

Today is the Feast of Pentecost. Today - or any day - breathe. Pull fresh air into your being, into your upper room. Take in the Spirit, the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of Courage, the Holy Spirit of forgiveness. Call to the Spirit for a rush of air, resuscitation, resurrection, and peace.

As we heard today’s gospel and in today’s readings, we heard how the Holy Spirit is the one who brings forgiveness of sins and connections and reconnections.

The Spirit gets us talking to each other - no matter how divided we are - no matter what language we speak. We’re all in this together.  We’re all parts of one body - so we all need to work together to make this life work.

Come Holy Spirit.

Pause. Breathe. Feel the Fresh Air of God in your life.

Meditate on breathing - a practice very much part of many religions.

Breathe: “Come Holy Spirit.” Pray: “Come Holy Spirit.”

The word for the “Spirit”  in Hebrew is  “RUAH”. It’s the rush of the Spirit - into our life. It’s one of those onomatopoeic words.  Remember those from English literature classes - words that sound like what they suggest -  words like hiss - splash - crash. So too the Hebrew word, “RUAH.” Hear the sound of breath - wind - and air in that word. 

Have you ever been at the beach in the summer and someone has been pulled out of the waters - almost drowned. You see life guards or paramedics pushing down on that person’s lungs - trying to get them to breathe again - giving them mouth to mouth resuscitation - trying to bring them back to life.

When you want God to forgive you,  lay there on your bed and  picture God leaning over you - pushing you. Picture God putting His lips to yours and giving you spiritual resuscitation.

That image is not far fetched. It’s a powerful Biblical image from Genesis with God forming us from the beginning - as well as the great scene of resurrection and a new beginning in the Book of Ezekiel - Chapter 37 -  in the great vision of the field of dead bones being called back to life.  

The title of my homily is, “Forgiveness for Dummies.”

Pentecost is a call for forgiveness - for new life.

The priest, the Church, all are called to scream out over the people of this planet who are often like a valley of dead bones, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  The Lord God says over  these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live.” And the whole valley of the dead  bones come back to life. 

Isn’t that also the message of today’s second reading from 1 Corinthians when Paul sees everyone separated? He then calls upon the One Spirit - to help all the parts of the Body of Christ to see their connection - through baptism - becoming one Body - no matter where Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. 

CONCLUSION: ONE STEP DEEPER

The title of my homily is, “Forgiveness for Dummies.”

I want to go one step deeper to something that is more fundamental - something more primal. It’s something we all know very well. We’ve experienced it  right here in our upper room - called our skull, called our mind. [POINT TO SKULL]  We can be stuck in here. As today’s gospel puts it - we can be all blocked up with fear - all locked up - because of failures. It’s in here where Jesus comes and says to us, “Peace”. It’s in here that Jesus can breathe his Holy Spirit into us.

Come Holy Spirit.

Each of us can go to confession 100 times - each of us can forgive another 1000 times - or be forgiven by another 1000 times. Wonderful! 

Then surprise, hasn’t this happened to all of us. Something happens. Someone says the wrong thing.  Someone pushes the wrong button - and we discover the other hasn’t really forgiven us.

Or more significant, I have noticed this in myself  many times  - and I’ve also noticed it in listening to others  as a priest - we don’t forgive ourselves. We really don’t believe God could forgive us. We hold onto our side of the trapeze and we can’t fly through the air to the next bar of our lives.

We’re dummies. We hold onto our dumb mistakes - our sins - the  ways we’ve been hurt - and holding onto that stuff - retaining that stuff weighs us down.

Today - this Pentecost Sunday - take off those retainers. Every kid who wears retainers - knows the day those retainers come off - today - this Pentecost Sunday - take off those retainers - those restrainers - and be set free.

NOTES

[1] Raymond Brown,  The Anchor Bible, The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York, 1970,  page 1041

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