St. Joseph Parish Phoenix recently issued the following announcement.

We gather each weekend with family, friends and neighbors to worship God, a God of Mercy, a God of Healing, and a God always willing to forgive. 

We are called to do the same. We are called to reconcile with our family member, our friend, our neighbor, just as God reconciles with us when we turn away. Why forgive? If you have been hurt so bad, if you have been betrayed by someone you trusted, if your love was ridiculed and mocked, if you suffer because of someone else’s wrong, the question is understandably “Why forgive?” Life is unfair in many ways. 

Good people suffer while bad people prosper. Good is ignored while evil is extolled. To insulate yourself from this delirious enigma, you must be strong. You must be unyielding. You must seek out revenge. So why forgive? This Sunday’s Gospel tells us the reason why forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is not about weakness. Forgiveness is not about defeat. Forgiveness is not amnesia of past experiences. Forgiveness is about MERCY. God in his mercy has initiated the process of forgiveness. Jesus speaks about a master who in his mercy forgives a huge debt of his servant. He does not think of any gain for himself. He only thinks of the welfare of his servant and his family. He wants him to be free and to have peace. 

The master’s mercy shines in forgiveness. But another mystery is at work here. The forgiven man finds a fellow servant who owes him a mere pittance of the debt from which he was absolved. But this forgiven man finds no mercy in his heart towards his fellow servant. He threatens him, pressures him, and sends him to prison. This is what happens when a person who receives mercy does not feel the impact of the gift he has received. He does not allow that mercy to influence the way he deals with others. This is what happens to us when we, too, forget how kindly and gently God has forgiven us. How often should I forgive? 

This is our tendency -- the inclination to count, to put a limit to our kindness towards each other. Does God not forgive you many, many times? Does He not answer your prayer: “LORD, HAVE MERCY; CHRIST, HAVE MERCY; LORD, HAVE MERCY”? Don’t you value the experience of liberation in every Confession! If so, why is it so difficult to forgive another who has offended you much less than what you have done to God? 

It becomes difficult to forgive if we forget how merciful God has been to us. Is there someone you need to forgive today? No, not from the mind, not from the lips, but from the heart. God forgives you your sins, so that you can extend the same mercy to others. Ask the Lord for the grace to remember the many times he has embraced you in your weakness. 

Ask him for the grace to be able also to do the same to another person today. #42. A STORY ON FORGIVENESS. Mundakah, the magician went to the tombs once more to bring a dead person back to life. After choosing a tomb, he uttered his magical words. 

The tombstone rolled open and a middle-aged lady came out with a sigh of relief. The lady spoke, “I do not intend to live again. I only want to realize an unfulfilled wish. Then I shall return here so I can die again.” After three hours, the lady returned to the tomb and asked Mundakah to send her back among the dead. He asked her, “What did you do?” 

The lady replied, “I forgave those who had hurt me and sought the forgiveness of those whom I had hurt. These things I failed to do before I died. Now I can rest in peace.” 

The lady entered her tomb, and Mundakah sent her back among the dead. This Sunday is Catechetical Sunday and Grandparents Day. On the 14th, we have the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on September 15. On the 16th, it is the memorial of Ss. Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr. And next days of the week are optional memorials of other saints. 

This is all for now, watch for the next bulletin… 

Your Priest-Servant and Parochial Administrator, 

Fr. Reggie

Original source can be found here.