August 11: Chicken or Egg

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The second reading of Paul to the Ephesians talks about forgiving one another. It reminds me of the line in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Mt 6:12) You could read that line as a warning that God only forgives those who forgive others. Paul reverses that conditional meaning to say that we forgive because God has already forgiven us. So which came first, the chicken or the egg? 

In a sense, both are needed: Jesus died on the cross to show that God forgives sins you haven’t even committed yet. But God does not force his forgiveness on us. It is a gift, given freely. We have to want to be forgiven and accept that gift from God. And we also have to be willing to forgive those who have hurt us. There are many ways to do that.

One is to forgive in your heart. That’s usually easy to do for someone you love. You know they didn’t mean to hurt you and so you don’t get angry at them. And if you truly forgive, you won’t be thinking of how that person owes you for the hurt and what you can get from them. If you don’t love the one who hurt you, you still need to forgive, so you can let go of the hurt. (And be forgiven for not loving your neighbor!)

Paul also tells us to let go of bitterness, anger, and shouting. Instead of getting even, we are told to be kind and compassionate (Eph 4:32.) We can go to the next step after forgiving in our hearts: We show our forgiveness in our actions. A friend or relative might get a hug; others might get a handshake or words of forgiveness. If the one who hurt you insists on making up for it, accept their gift graciously and remind them that they are forgiven; they may need to make reparation so they can forgive themselves. 

Jesus showed how much God wants to forgive us by his death on the cross. Because we are forgiven, we are then able to forgive others. So while God’s love and forgiveness are always first, we must be able to forgive others so that we can accept it from God.

Tom Schmidt