MY MISTAKES
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B - is, “My Mistakes.”
Just as some people find it difficult to say, “I love you”, so some people find it difficult to say, “I made a mistake” or “I was wrong” or “I did it” or “I blew it”.
Some people - like that - can make - half way comments - like, “Love you” or “Me too.” Then in the area of forgiveness, they can say, “My mistake.” In time, they just have to add the “I” - as in, “I made a mistake” or “I was wrong!”
Is the Catholic Church on to something with confession when someone says out loud, to another, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.”
FORGIVENESS
Today’s readings trigger the theme of forgiveness.
The first reading from Isaiah 43 - has the Lord saying something we all need to hear - loud and clear:
“Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!”
If there is one thing I have learned as a priest, it’s right there.
We remember the mistakes of our past. As we get older, we slowly lose our short term memory - but our long term memory can be loud and clear - especially regarding sins.
If there is one thing I have learned as a priest, it’s we forget many of the good things we have done with our lives, but we don’t forget a few of big mistakes we made long ago.
If there is one thing I have learned as a priest, it’s that it’s much easier to say the Creed prayers, “I believe in one God” than to pray, “I believe You God that You have forgiven me that mistake I made in 1967 or 1977 or 1987. “
If there is one thing I have also learned as a human being, it’s that it’s much easier to forgive another than to forgive ourselves.
Yet, don’t we get mad when we forgive someone and they still feel guilty and don’t seem to believe that we have forgiven them?
What’s behind this difficulty in accepting forgiveness in ourselves - for our own mistakes and sins? Is that part of the sin of pride? Is that down deep that we can’t believe we can fall or fail? Is that because we want to keep the belief that the others are the sinners not I? Is that so we can keep in reserve our stones that we want to throw at others? Is that what Jesus was getting at when he said, “Let him or her without sin cast the first stone?” Yet, some people down deep keep casting the same stone at themselves.
Today’s second reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians has God telling us that his word to us is, “Yes.”
Yet, often we have the problem of not believing God accepts us, God loves us, God forgives us and God promises us that acceptance. We feel because of our sins that God looks at us and gives us a, “No!” - gives us a thumbs down. Paul is proclaiming today that God says “Amen” - which means “Yes” to us.
Today’s gospel tells us the intricate story of the four men who bring a friend to Jesus so as to be healed of his paralysis. When they see a crowd surrounding the house where Jesus was, they don’t give up. They go up on the roof and break through the roof and lower their friend down to Jesus. Jesus surprises them by saying to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” They were not there for that reason. Yet, that’s what Jesus does at first.
Now the scribes, meaning those who could write - the more educated - thought to themselves, “Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus, to prove just that, and so much more, says to the paralyzed man whom he just given the gift of forgiveness, “Rise, pick up your man and walk.”
And the paralyzed man stood up and started celebrating in front of everyone. He came in on a mat and walked out on his feet - healed.
SIN AS PARALYSIS
I don’t think the author of this gospel was specifically trying to say that sin paralyzes us. However, at times, I see that preachers see that as a powerful way to read and hear this gospel text - as well as a way to understand sin.
Sin can paralyze us. Sin can get us to forget everything as we spend all our energy on the sin - the mistake we made.
Here’s an example I came up with last night. I’m not sure if it’s exactly on the point, but let me float it towards you this morning.
A lady prepares an elaborate dinner for 12 people. Everything is perfect - perfect - perfect. The table is elegant.
Her husband says, “Let’s say grace.” Her eyes are closed. Then in the middle of the prayer, she peeks to scan the table - expecting to see her perfect creation.
Then she spots it. The one thing she asks her husband to do - to put the bread in two baskets on the table - which have green cloth napkins as a base - doesn’t have the bread she baked herself. It has sliced white bread.
She’s furious. She screams inwardly to herself, “How do I get this bread off this elegant table and how do I get the two loaves I baked this afternoon onto the table, smoothly?”
She’s sees her husband getting up and going into the kitchen for the cork screw for the wine. She follows right after him.
The door is closed. She grabs his arm. She whispers, “The bread. The bread. The bread. Where’s the bread? It’s a disaster. I give you one thing to do and you blow it. The bread. The bread. Where’s the bread I baked this afternoon?”
He says, “I know. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. Sorry!”
She says, “It’s here somewhere. It’s here somewhere.”
The search is on….
Then she realizes it’s in the oven. Relax! The oven wasn’t on. She put it in there to keep it warm - up to the last minute - but didn’t tell her husband that. She takes it out puts it in another two baskets - with green cloth napkins. Now what? She’s still furious. She feels mortified. How is she going to march back out there to the guests - with two bread baskets - and remove the other two - the ones with the white slices of store bread?
At that, her husband takes both baskets and walks out to their dining room. He says out loud, “I blew it folks. My wife gave me one job to do and I brought out sliced white bread. Here’s the fresh bread she baked this afternoon - and it’s nice and warm.”
They all laughed and clapped as he took away the white bread - back to the kitchen. Then when he came back, the women - with their husbands present - all said out loud to his wife, “We wish our husbands a) would do some work around the house and b) admit their mistakes.”
It saved the day.
Little things however have been known to ruin the day - and sometimes come back as attacks from time to time.
This homily is about forgetting and forgiving - letting go - not of little things - but big things and then living life to the full.
Sin paralyses us. Sin drains us. Sin makes us want to hide. Sin can shame us.
Forgiveness can be healing - and getting us moving again.
Let me throw in another curve.
I played sports, but I was never a star athlete. One thing I noticed about star athletes, it’s that they remember everything - ever pitch - especially if the other guy hit it for a game winning hit. They remember every missed field goal, especially if it meant they didn’t make the Super Bowl.
Why is it we remember the errors - the mistakes - the sins of life?
Take cars. They can be replaced when they are totaled. They can be restored at a body shop if they have dents and bruises.
Take humans. The cuts and mistakes seem to be unsightly scars and tattoos on our soul. Nobody else sees them. We do.
CONCLUSION
The readings today say we can be healed. The readings today say we can be forgiven. The readings today say we can become brand new, fresh bread on the table of life.
Ash Wednesday - Lent starts - this week. There are some deep things we all need to think and pray about. Sin and forgiveness are certainly key.
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Painting on top: "Healing of the Paralytic," c. 1560-1590, Netherlandish 16th century painting that is part of the Chester Dale Collection in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Notice the people on the roof and the house in the background - plus lots of tiny details.
