“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (Mt. 6:14)

Jesus spoke these words immediately after giving the disciples the Lord’s Prayer, apparently to highlight the importance of the petition on forgiveness — “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We can’t expect God to forgive us of our sins if we are not forgiving others of their sins against us.

Many years ago, a friend and I joined a music group playing our guitars for a Saturday evening mass at a small parish in Armonk, New York. After a couple of months, we were abruptly asked to leave without any explanation.  We were angered by the summary dismissal and dwelt on it for several months.  At a Christmas Eve mass during the sign of peace I felt the nudge to walk over to the music group leader and offer the sign of peace, which led to a hug of forgiveness.    The leader and I became close Christian friends and still stay in touch. My guitar playing friend continued to remain angry.  

When Peter asked how many times we should forgive, Jesus said “not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  Jesus then shares the parable of the unforgiving servant who, after having his debt forgiven by his master, did not do the same with a fellow servant. When his master learned of this, he responded, “You wicked servant!  I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.  Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?” (Mt. 18:21- 35)

We remember the example of Jesus’ unforgettable words from the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Forgiveness is absolutely essential for the advancement of the kingdom of God on earth.

Without God’s grace, our nature is not to forgive. We hold a grudge or seek revenge, “an eye for an eye.” But unforgiveness is like a cancer.  It gives rise to anger and resentment, robbing us of our peace and affecting us as negatively as the original wrong.  This effect applies to groups, tribes, and nations as well as individuals, and has led to a never-ending cycle of violence throughout human history.

Are you brooding over a past hurt or wrong that God is waiting for you to forgive?

“Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus.” (John 21:4)

The Gospel of John reports that seven of the disciples went fishing sometime after Jesus’ resurrection, but they did not recognize him as he called out to them from the shore.  It was only after he suggested they cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they caught 153 large fish that John said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” (John 21:7)

During the days following Jesus’ resurrection, most of his closest followers did not recognize him in their first encounter. 

Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener and did not recognize him until he said her name, “Mary.”  The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus even after he spent time with them explaining what all the scriptures had to say about him.  It was only at his breaking of the bread while dining with them that they recognized him.

How often do we fail to see the risen Lord in our lives?  Like Mary Magdalene, he may be calling us by name.  Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he may be opening our minds to the meaning of some scripture.  Like the seven disciples fishing, he may be suggesting we take an action that will have a surprising (miraculous) result.

This past week we celebrated the 39th birthday of our daughter Emily who was born with Down syndrome.  At the time of her birth I did not recognize the presence of the risen Lord in our midst.  Later I came to see Jesus in her big beautiful smile, her purity of heart, and her natural inclination to love and hug the people she meets. 

While we may not always recognize Jesus in the people or circumstances of our lives, the apostle John in his first letter says that “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)

Wherever there is love, Jesus is present.  Jesus is telling us that when we love others through our actions, we love him, and he is present to us.  Let us offer love and receive love, so someone can say, “It’s the Lord.” 

Do you recognize the risen Jesus when you see him?  

We have just celebrated the most important event of our Christian faith – Jesus’ resurrection.  Yet, as significant as it is for us and human history, God was rather restrained in bringing it to people’s attention.

There was no proclamation from a choir of angels as at Jesus’ birth announcing that “A Savior has been born unto you.” (Luke 2:11)  In fact, God let Jesus’ followers kind of stumble into what had happened. On the morning of Jesus’ resurrection, we have a couple of angels asking the above question to the women who had come to anoint Jesus’ body.

The angels went on to explain that Jesus had risen from the dead just as he said he would, but the women did not understand.  For them, the only conceivable explanation was that someone had taken Jesus’ body.  Peter and John, upon hearing the women’s report had a foot race to the tomb only to find that the linens which Jesus had been wrapped in were neatly folded in two different places.  Neither did they understand, although Luke reports that Jesus did appear later to Peter. (Luke 24:34) 

Jesus also appears to Mary Magdalene, and two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, but there was no recognition of who he was until he called Mary by name and broke bread in front of the disciples.  In spite of all the times that Jesus told the disciples before his crucifixion that he had to suffer death and rise from the dead, they did not understand. 

Why?  It was not until they had personally encountered the risen Jesus and were anointed with the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost that they began to fully comprehend what Jesus’ resurrection meant for them and human history.  St. Paul reports that Jesus appeared to more than 500 at one time. (1 Cor. 5:6)

The resurrection radically changed how the apostles and early Christians lived and modeled their lives.

Like the disciples and the early Christians, we too, need to personally experience the presence of the risen Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit before we can comprehend the effect of his resurrection on our lives.  No announcement, no teaching by itself will get the job done.

That was true for me 48 years ago on an October evening when I had a personal encounter with Jesus. Through God’s grace and the power of his Holy Spirit he opened my mind and heart to the reality of his risen presence in my life.

Have you met the risen Jesus and experienced the outpouring of his Holy Spirit?

“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

These were Jesus’ words to one of the two thieves crucified with him who has become known as the “Good Thief.”  The other thief had reviled Jesus, challenging him that if he were the Christ to save himself and them.   The good thief rebuked him, and then said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Tradition tells us that the good thief’s name was Dismis.   

Jesus makes the amazing promise to Dismis that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.  Jesus  made this promise to no one else.    

We should take comfort in this story because it demonstrates the extraordinary mercy of God working through Jesus.  Dismis was a convicted murderer, but he witnessed the injustice of Jesus’ crucifixion and in contrast to the other thief, was persuaded that Jesus was truly the Son of God and wanted to follow him at this late moment in his life. 

A similar story played out in real life with a friend of mine, John, who was a county prosecutor in Duluth, Minnesota.  One of his early cases involved a high school friend named Jim.  Over the next twenty-six years, John would prosecute Jim a dozen times on theft-related charges to support a chemical dependency.  In the last prosecution of Jim, it was determined that he was terminally ill with sclerosis of the liver.  The judge assigned him to a hospice outside of prison.

Over the next six months, John visited Jim two or three times a week at the hospice facility.  They reminisced about growing up in the 1950s and talked about their favorite baseball teams.  They also started reading the bible together.  That fall, Jim repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.  He died in late November. 

John says, “Over the last six months I frequently called Jim ‘brother’ because we were brothers in Christ.  Jim loved reading and praying the psalms.  God used Jim to teach me about acceptance of suffering and perseverance.  He showed me it’s never too late to say yes to the Lord, no matter what we have done in the past.  I know he is in paradise today – just like another thief who died on the cross next to Jesus.” 

Is there anything we should repent of during this Holy Week? 

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” So, Jesus said to Phillip. (John 8:19)

For most people, God as a person may be a challenge to fully comprehend.  Even if we accept the words of Genesis that God created all that exists, including us as human beings with rational minds and the capability to think and reason, it is difficult. 

The coming of Jesus made it easier for us. As he said to Phillip, “Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  (John 14: 9)

While we can experience Jesus through baptism and the other sacraments, at some point there needs to be a personal encounter with Jesus in which we invite him into our lives.  It takes a personal invitation by us – asking Jesus to come into our hearts and be a part of our life.  Jesus will not push his way into our hearts. We have to open the door and invite him in.  This happened to me when I was in my 30s and it was a watershed moment in my life.  All my priorities began to change.  I am still capable of messing up, but with my friendship with Jesus, I know he will forgive me as soon as I go to him and ask him.

Jesus says, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  (Matthew 7: 8) We come to know God through Jesus — just as Jesus said to Phillip.  As we become familiar with what Jesus said and did in the four gospels, we become familiar with God.  The way Jesus loved, forgave, and related to people, is the way God relates to us.  Just as Jesus was very approachable, so too, is God. 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are available for us to come to know personally, but we need to extend the invitation.

Have you made the invitation?    

“My son you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31)

These are the words of the father to the eldest son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  In the parable the younger son asks for his inheritance, leaves the home of his father and elder brother, and goes to a distant land where he squanders the inheritance on loose living.  He comes to his senses, and decides to return home.  His father welcomes him home and has a feast to celebrate his return.

When the elder son finds out, he is resentful and refuses to join in the welcoming festivities.  He complains to the father that he has always been obedient, but the father has never given him even a young goat to share with his friends.  The father responds that the elder son is always with him and that everything the father has is the elder son’s. 

What a beautiful illustration of God’s love for both sons.  The loving forgiveness for the younger repentant son is obvious.  The love for the elder son is more subtle.  Some of us may have experienced times in our lives, when like the elder son, we have experienced jealousy or resentment of the attention and forgiveness someone has received whom we deem unworthy.      

We brood, we fume, we get ourselves all worked, but God says to us, “My son, my daughter, you are here with me every day, and I am always with you.  Everything I have is yours – my grace, my love, my forgiveness, my healing; my promise of eternal life.  All of these are mine which I share freely with you.  Accept my love and the grace of these gifts.  Accept my invitation to join in the family celebration!

Over the years, I have quietly struggled with being judgmental and seeking recognition. Like the older son, these sins set up barriers in me to experience the fullness of the Father’s love and grace.  Not that the Father withholds his love and grace from me, but that these actions interfere with me being able to fully experience his love and grace.   

Like the older son, do you set up barriers that interfere with your experiencing all that the Father has for you? 

“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him, male and female he created them.  God blessed them, saying to them: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Genesis 1:27-28)

The family is the natural result of this creation and all that follows. God calls us to carry forward his design from generation to generation. This is a blessed calling, ordained by the one who created all that exists. It is filled with challenges and sacrifice, but can be balanced with deep love and unforgettable blessings.  Let me share one small example.

A few years ago, we were visiting two of our children’s families to attend the high school graduation of our oldest grandson.  Following a post-graduation party and dinner, we were sitting around visiting with the two families, including our grandson’s paternal grandparents, when the grandson’s siblings and cousins came up with the idea that the two grandfathers should take the six grandchildren to play laser tag.

So here we were, two white haired septuagenarians and six teenagers, ages 12 to 18, driving in an eight passenger van to a local laser tag arcade. For those who have never had the experience, laser tag is a game where you put on a vest with four electronic targets located on the chest, back and both shoulders, along with a hand-held infrared laser gun.  You are put in a low light room with two levels and various structures to run around and hide behind while aiming your laser gun at another person’s target areas.  A hit on another person gives you 100 points and a hit on you subtracts 50 points and disables your gun for three seconds.  The person with the most points wins.

Both the kids and the white haired old guys had a blast! The old guys were quite proud of themselves and will long cherish the memory.  Hopefully the young folks, separated by two generations, will as well.

We may not think that laser tag has much to do with God’s design for family, but in this case, there was love in the request from the youngest generation, and love in the acceptance by the generation once removed.  Upon arriving back at the house there was joy among all three generations by what had taken place.

God’s design for his creation was being lived out through three generations of family, ironically and humorously highlighted through a mundane game of laser tag.

Do you see God’s hand in the ordinary circumstances of your family?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27)

Jesus’ promise of peace to the disciples is also available to us today.  It is a beautiful gift that we cannot get from the world. Let me share a story to illustrate. 

It started with a call from my urologist, “You have an aggressive and an advanced form of prostate cancer.”  A biopsy showed an increased PSA, the marker of prostate cancer’s presence, and a Gleason score of 9 out of 10, a measure of the aggressiveness of the cancer.  I was shocked and initially fearful.  I let family and friends know and asked for their prayers.  As I started to receive the assurance of their prayers and concern, I began to experience God’s love and peace.  Like the disciples, I needed to realize that Jesus was in my midst to receive his peace. 

He was with me in the numerous acts of love from my wife, our children, and brothers and sisters in Christ. He was with me as a good Christian brother inveigled his way into the pre-op room as my brother (in Christ, that is) and led the doctors and nurses circled around my bed in prayer before surgery.  He was with me through my wife who was a constant support and always present.  He was with me through adult children who left their own families to spend time with me. He was with me in the quiet moments as he whispered to my spirit.

After thirteen years of apparently being cancer free, my PSA began to rise again. It was right after a new scan had been developed to detect tumors as small as a few millimeters called a PSMA scan. While the insurance company first denied coverage, they later approved it and discovered a small tumor above my bladder.  The radiologist recommended proton radiation which the insurance again denied but later approved.  I had thirty-seven radiation treatments without a trace of side effects.  That took place three years ago and my PSA has continued to decline below the recurrence level. 

How do we seek peace from Jesus? By asking him to come into our midst, seeking his support, healing, and peace. He often brings healing in ways we may not be aware of.  He uses modern medicine.  Sometimes he heals directly.  He inspires support and love from family and friends.  The result, a peace the world cannot give. 

Have you sought the peace that Jesus offers? 

“If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  (Genesis 4:7)

God was responding to Cain who was angry when God had rejected his offering but accepted the offering of his brother, Abel.  God was asking Cain why he was angry, that if he did what is right he would be accepted.  Then God goes on to warn Cain that if he doesn’t do what is right sin will be crouching at his door, ready to entrap him. 

This reminds me of the words of a wonderful woman who was 101 years old that I took communion to on several occasions. Even though Dottie did not hear well, she loved to talk and share experiences from her long life.  Among her many words were:

“Love covers a lot of wrongs.  I am not a perfect person, but God gives me a lot of love, so I love and that makes up for me not being perfect.  I have found that it is easier to be happy than sad, and it’s also more fun.  So, at my age, I just think happy thoughts.  Satan is always hanging around to cause us trouble, but I just tell him, ‘Satan, be gone!’ and he runs from me.  He is very tricky.  He tries to get us to do things we shouldn’t do, but I tell him, ‘You get out of here!’”

Her observations are in line with God’s admonition to Cain that sin is always crouching at our door, waiting to ensnare us.  This is also in line with other scripture from the New Testament.  Saint Peter in his first letter says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

As God suggests to Cain, and as Dottie offers in her long life of experiences, we must be aware that Satan is real.  He puts thoughts in our minds and is looking to entice us to do things that lead us away from God.   We need to be alert to his ways.  Prayer, scripture, and the sacraments of the church are tools to resist his efforts. 

As the apostle James says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8)

How do you resist temptations that pull you away from God?

The Gospel of Mark reports that when Jesus arrived in the region of Gennesaret on the Sea of Galilee, people ran throughout the area and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  “They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.” (Mark 6:56)

It doesn’t take much to get a response from Jesus.  He and God the Father have great love for us.  They are waiting for us to invite them into our lives in any manner of ways.  In this Gospel passage all they had to do was touch the edge of his cloak. 

The smallest action on our part can secure a response.  Whatever that action may be, if it evidences a desire to move toward Jesus and seek his help, he is waiting to respond.  Earlier in Mark’s Gospel there is the report of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and came up behind Jesus in a large crowd and said, “’If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’  Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”  (Mark 5:25-29)

In a similar way, regardless of whether you are a practicing Christian, the slightest move toward Jesus will likely beget a response from him.  There is the famous painting of Jesus knocking on a door with no handle.  When the artist was asked why he did not include a handle, he said that the door could only be opened from the inside.

Jesus wants us to open the door of hearts to him, but the door can only be opened by us.  He will not force himself on us but will respond to any gesture or the slightest move on our part. 

Are you willing to make the slightest move toward Jesus for a need in your life?