Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
See our music recommendations for the liturgy.
(Considering the readings). Forgiveness with Limit. Both the Gospel passage from Matthew and the first reading say that the only possible Christian attitude is one of forgiveness.
The second reading is connected to this: it recommends patience in dealing with those who hold opinions different from ours. A woman, pushing on in years, boasted to her parish priest that she did not have an enemy in the world. He was very impressed. What a wonderful thing to be able to say after all those years! And then she added:- ‘I have outlived them all, father, they are all dead!’. I suppose if we live long enough, we will also be able to make the same statement. “How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered Peter, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”
Forgiveness, for Jesus, is not a quantifiable event. For Jesus it is a quality; a way of being, a way of living, a way of loving, a way of relating, a way of thinking and seeing. By failing to forgive, we hurt ourselves more than anyone else. It builds up walls of bitterness and resentment and there is no escape until we come to forgive.
Forgiving and letting go is not easy, especially when the wound is very deep. Forgiveness is the only way forward. That does not mean we forget, condone, or approve of what was done. Forgiveness creates space for new life. Forgiveness is an act of hopefulness and resurrection for the one who forgives. It is the healing of our soul and life. Forgiveness takes us out of darkness into light, from death to life. It disentangles us from the evil of another. It is the refusal to let our future be determined by the past. It is the letting go of the thoughts, the hatred, the fear that fill us so that we might live and love again. Sometimes, however, the pain is too much, the wound too raw, the memories too real, and we just cannot forgive. We try to choose to want to forgive…..because that’s the choice Christ made.
Holding a grudge does not make us strong, it makes us bitter.
Forgiving does not make us weak, it makes us free. Let’s pray now in silence for all here this morning/evening who cannot yet forgive because of the hurt, the violence and betrayal done to them. We pray that they will be strong and not embedded in the past but move to the present and forward to the future.
In solidarity with them as members of our community, and with the hope and desire for justice, mercy and forgiveness, let’s take one minute of honourable silence before we profess the Creed.
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Catholicism of the Catholic Church References:
CCC 218-221: God is love
CCC 294: God manifests his glory by sharing his goodness
CCC 2838-2845: "forgive us our trespasses"
I do not tell you to forgive seven times, but seventy-seven times – Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven. The major thread in today’s liturgy is forgiveness. One of the fruits of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity. Forgiveness and mercy are at the heart of the Good News, or the message of Jesus Christ. In today’s Collect, we ask God, the Creator and ruler of all things, to look upon his people who are his creation. God looks upon his creation with great love and mercy. But not only do we ask him to look upon us, but that we might also feel the working of his mercy. The working of our redemption occurred through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – which we collectively call the Paschal Mystery. We experience the fruits the Paschal Mystery through our active and conscious participation in the liturgy. In a special way we encounter the mercy of God in a personal and tangible manner through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Likewise, in the celebration of the Eucharist, we pray “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life” during the Penitential Act. One of the fruits of the Eucharist is the forgiveness of sins. The first Communion Antiphon highlights this reality – “How precious is your mercy, O God! The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wings.” Forgiveness allows us the possibility to serve God with all our heart. Singleness of heart in knowing, loving, and serving God. We may make us of Invocations for the Penitential Act found in Appendix VI of the Roman Missal, especially the third or fourth one. Likewise, we may consider making us of either of the Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation today, which really emphasise the notion of God’s mercy and forgiveness, and therefore the mystery of recollection.
These hymns have been picked and chosen from different sources.
Bless the Lord my Soul (Taize) CFE81, L813, LHON862
Unless a grain of wheat (CFE754, L748, LHON697)
A new commandment (CFE4, L920)
God forgave my sin (Freely, freely) CFE209 L849, LHON286)
There is a wideness in God's mercy (L810, TCH268)
This is my body broken for you (CFE730, L627 LHON681)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
