[Hey, Church fans. Ran out of time to post the video. You can check it out on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/stpatsak/ Here’s the text, but if you want the story that makes the homily, you’ve got to go to the vid.
A scientist was came up to God and said, “Thank you for all your good work, but we don’t need you anymore.”
“Oh no?” God said. “What do you mean.”
The scientist replied, “After years of diligent research we now have the means to create life.”
“Really,” God said, “Please, show me.”
So the scientist bends down and starts to form a little man out of the clay.
“Wait,” God said, “No, no, no, no….Get your own dirt!”
There are many ways in which we are made in the image and likeness of God. For example, we can create, we can love, and in the context of love, we can forgive.
I have always been struck by the fact that there is no limit to the human person’s capacity to love. Think about it, at what point do you stop loving your spouse, your kids, your good friends?
At the same time, it is important not to confuse love with affection, or esteem or infatuation.
Love is not a feeling. It is a decision that is accompanied by every feeling you can imagine—great joy, great sorrow, great triumph, great tragedy, great encouragement, and great frustration. Love is hard sometimes.
Forgiveness is a part of love. So by the same token, forgiveness is hard sometimes too.
Thomas Aquinas described love very well when he said that love wants what is best for the other. Often what is best for the other is to forgive them. This is not always easy. Sometimes the offense is so profound and the hurt is so raw, that it’s easy to make the same mistake as so many do with love. It’s essential to remember that forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a decision. As such, it is an act of the will, not of the intellect or the affect.
It’s a bit paradoxical, but the act of forgiveness is the first thing that needs to happen. We may not want to, but when we forgive the offender, we open the door to grace and most often to reconciliation.
[The Story of the Duck Blind.]
I learned that day that forgiveness is a decision, an act of the will that opens to the door to reconciliation.
To forgive the offender, even if they are not repentant is one of the ways where we truly reflect the love of Christ who forgave even those who were crucifying him. It is not only virtuous, but it is essential for anyone who would seek to follow Christ.
Love is not a feeling, it is a decision. Forgiveness is a decision. Love is not easy. Forgiveness is not easy. It is always worth it.