The Liturgical Teaching on the Relationship Between Sin and Forgiveness (24th Sunday of Ordinary Time) – Year A

Reflection on the Readings at Mass for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year A. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Sirach 27:30 - 28:7, Romans 14:7-9, Matthew 18:21-35. (Watch on YouTube) The Liturgical Teaching on the Relationship Between Sin and Forgiveness While there is no clear way to organize the Book of Sirach, we can say that this section of notes from which our First Reading for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time comes from in 27:30-28:7, concerns the topics of malice, anger, vengeance, and evil tongue. In particular, in our readings today, the author Ben Sira teaches that wrath and anger are the fruits of a sinful nature, writing, "Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight," and that the sinner's disposition towards wrath and anger are antithetical for those who desire mercy from God and the mercy due to those who are made in our same image and likeness, writing, "Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins?" Here, in its teaching against vengeance, anger, and wrath, not only does Sirach read like the source material for Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, but on the topic of forgiving our neighbor of their faults so that we might have ours forgiven, it sounds like the reference source of the Lord's Prayer itself as found in two slightly different iterations in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, ". . . forgive of our sins or trespasses as we forgive those who sin or trespass against us." So, because the call for us to forgive our neighbor is steeped so deeply in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, even up until He gave up His life on the Cross, saying, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do," I think most Christians accept the that the price of their forgiveness is dependent upon how charitably we have forgiven others. Yet, what is challenging to overcome for many is the idea of exceptions. Some are against the death penalty, except for murder and rape. Some are against abortion children murder, except for murder, rape, and incest. We welcome the idea of forgiveness, except when it pushes us to the limits of our sensibilities. On the contrary, the depth of harm caused by sins committed against us should not hinder us from forgiving others, given that Christ Jesus Himself forgave those who were murdering Him. Therefore, how hard is it for us to forgive those who harmed us, and yet we still live? However, this is Simon Peter's concern in today's Gospel Reading from Matthew 18:21-35 - 'What about the exceptions, Lord?' saying, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?" Peter even throws out a number that he thinks is an excessive amount of mercy, "As many as seven times?" Indeed, it was good that Peter offered the number seven because it allowed Jesus to juxtapose the teachings of Lamech, who had boasted that he had become even more violent than his father Cain, saying to his wives Adah and Zillah, ". . . wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."[1] Here, Ben Sira's teaching that "wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight," is proven right again, and Jesus flips Lamech's call to vengeance with the call to mercy, saying to Peter, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-sev