What a remarkable coincidence that the readings for this 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, dealing with Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness, occurs every three years near the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, one of the darkest days of our nation’s history.
Forgiveness was hard that day. Many of us remember, not only where we were, those 19 years ago, but the very strong emotions of sadness and anger.
I was a first year seminarian in 2001. And on that overcast autumn day here in Cleveland, a few of us seminarians were on our way to a Philosophy class entitled Philosophy of the Human Person taught by a Capuchin Franciscan Priest, Father Don Lippert who is now the bishop of Papua New Guinea. In his brown Franciscan robes and brown beard and his peaceful demeanor, he reminded so many of us of Jesus himself. So we were on our way to class, and another seminarian ran up to us and told us that a plane had just flown into one of the world trade center towers. We ran to the classroom, and Fr. Lippert told us that class was canceled and we should go watch the news. So, we went up to the student lounge to watch those terrible events unfold. And, at first, none of us new what was going on, right? None of us thought there would be a second plane. Or news of a crash in Pennsylvania, so close to here. Or an explosion at the Pentagon. We sat glued to the television, watching, and saw that horrific sight of the towers crumbling down, thinking, what just happened?
When, I had enough, I remember going to my room, thinking of all of the tensions in the middle east at the time, all of the violence, and worry, that things were just about to get a lot worse. And I remember also, the anger inside me. Here, I lived with 70 men studying for the priesthood, seeking to bring Christ’s peace to human hearts through the Holy Gospel. And compare that with these men who sought to bring terror and death, who had not only disregard for their own souls, but the lives of innocent human beings. About 3000 people were killed that day at the hand of human wickedness. Those terrorist attacks continue to haunt us, too, every time we are forced to remove our shoes and belts at the airport. It is hard not to look at people of middle eastern decent without some modicum of suspicion.
And for a few weeks, back in 2001, Churches were packed, weren’t they, as people struggled to understand their anger and their hurt?
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Anger is the natural response to injustice”. Think of Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr.’s ’s “Anger” at racial inequality in the U.S., or Mahatma Ghandi’s anger over British imperialism, or Pope John Paul II’s anger at communist oppression. Think of Jesus’ own anger at casting out the money changers. Or the anger over Bishops covering-up the abuse of minors. There was anger over September 11, 2001 because those attacks, the death and destruction was a massive injustice.
We are hardwired to get angry over injustice. We were designed by God to respond to injustice in this way. And in a sense, we share this quality with God. Scripture speaks over and over about God’s anger toward evil, human wickedness, and injustice. God burns with anger when the people he freed from Egyptian slavery turn to worshipping false gods.
Anger incites us to work for justice, to prosecute criminals, to overturn unjust laws, such as the laws enabling the destruction of the unborn. Anger justly motivates us to hold our government leaders accountable for their failure to protect and lead. This sort of anger is legitimate, and a rightly formed conscience experiences this sort of anger in the face of injustice. Rightly ordered anger should stir us out of complacency and fear—to work to set things right.
However, St. Thomas Aquinas also talks about the deadly sin of Anger. Where legitimate anger is the desire to set things right and is the proper response to injustice, the Deadly sin of anger is the exaggerated or irrational desire for vengeance, to seek justice through irrational means—such as destruction of private property or innocent human life.
How thoroughly Sirach describes the deadly sin of sin of anger in the first reading: “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” The deadly sin of anger is addictive, like a drug. It’s like a demon that can possess a person and can consume us and lead us to do terrible things and justify terrible things. We see this sort of anger on full display in some of the destructive riots going on in our country. Yes, there is injustice, but justice cannot be obtained through irrational means. The ends do not justify the means.
Dr. King didn’t promote destruction-- he didn’t want to destroy white America, he wanted to redeem it. He did not insight terrorism against white America, he sought its righteousness, its perfection. This differentiates Dr. King from those whose legitimate concern for racial injustice leads to irrational violence. Yes, King was angered by racial injustice, but it was an anger tethered by love, which wills the good of the other.
Same thing with Ghandi. He did not want to destroy the British. He was angry at their oppression of his people, but as he famously said, I want the British to leave as our friends. And St. John Paul II, did he want to kill all of the communists? No. He was angry as anyone over communist oppression, but he wanted them redeemed, to become better people.
Our readings speak to us this Sunday about forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean we ignore injustice or forget about injustice. Forgiveness doesn’t mean burying our head in the sand. Forgiveness is able to call an injustice for what it is. That evil is evil. Jesus, who forgave from the cross, still called sin for what it is.
Rather, forgiveness is an act of the will, a choice. It is means to choose, “I will not allow the unjust actions of others to keep me from love” Forgiveness, is to choose, “I will not allow myself to be controlled by bitterness, anger, or resentment.” Yes, sometimes forgiveness means releasing someone from a financial debt. But the Lord shows us the true face of forgiveness, “Even though you crucify me, I still choose to die for you.” It means not returning evil for evil, but seeking the greatest good of the other, no matter how they treat you.
For Jesus, forgiveness is an absolute for the Christian life. We will not be forgiven by God unless we forgive others. Peter in today’s Gospel asks, how many times should I forgive my brother? Jesus answers, I say to you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times. The Christian is to practice forgiveness over and over and over and over again, just as God forgives us over and over and over again.
So, we should not go to bed angry, meaning, we should not go to bed with the smallest ounce of bitterness or hatred. If at the end of the day, I can think of a single person toward whom I am holding on to irrational hatred or ill-will toward, I need to release that, to bring that to God for healing. We must wish no ill-will toward anyone, ever.
Through rightly ordered anger—we are motivated to work for an end to injustices—through forgiveness hatred is replaced with peace. May our lives be rightly ordered, may our hearts be filled with peace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
