21st Sunday After Pentecost - "I Forgive You for Running Over Me"
“I FORGIVE YOU FOR RUNNING OVER ME”
“So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.”
The greatest act of charity that we can perform is to forgive. Christ tells us over and over again that we must forgive our enemies. A little boy once showed how this could be done. This little boy was playing in the street when he was run over by a large bus. His leg was broken and he was taken to the hospital. When he regained consciousness, the first thing that he did was to ask for a toy bus with a driver in it. His mother, wondering why he should want it, went and bought one for him. The boy took the toy in his hands and said, “It’s alright. I forgive you for running over me.”
The reason why we must forgive is told us in this morning’s Gospel. By our sins we have offended God. If we have sinned mortally, we have offended Him more than words can tell. When people hurt us there is a limit to it. There is no limit to the offense we do to God when we sin. God is perfectly willing to forgive us our large debt but He insists what we forgive people the smaller injuries that they do to us. If Christ is willing to forgive us for nailing Him to the Cross, we should be willing to forgive someone for pulling our hair or calling us names. When we refuse to forgive we place ourselves in the position of the unjust servant and say, “Pay what thou owest;” then we forget the many sins that God has forgiven us, and forget what we owe to Him.
A boy was once holding a grudge against another boy. He came up to him after Mass one Sunday morning and offered to shake hands. He said, “I was saying the Our Father this morning and I have just seen what it means, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those we trespass against us.’”
A Chinese emperor once said, “After I have conquered their country, I will destroy all my enemies.”
He conquered the country and all his courtiers were expecting that there would be a great slaughter of the enemy leaders. They expected to find them beheaded, maybe after being tortured. They were surprised to find them all sitting at table with the emperor, laughing and joking!
They asked him, “You said you would destroy all your enemies.”
He answered, “I have destroyed them. I have forgiven them all and made them my friends.”
“So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.”
The greatest act of charity that we can perform is to forgive. Christ tells us over and over again that we must forgive our enemies. A little boy once showed how this could be done. This little boy was playing in the street when he was run over by a large bus. His leg was broken and he was taken to the hospital. When he regained consciousness, the first thing that he did was to ask for a toy bus with a driver in it. His mother, wondering why he should want it, went and bought one for him. The boy took the toy in his hands and said, “It’s alright. I forgive you for running over me.”
The reason why we must forgive is told us in this morning’s Gospel. By our sins we have offended God. If we have sinned mortally, we have offended Him more than words can tell. When people hurt us there is a limit to it. There is no limit to the offense we do to God when we sin. God is perfectly willing to forgive us our large debt but He insists what we forgive people the smaller injuries that they do to us. If Christ is willing to forgive us for nailing Him to the Cross, we should be willing to forgive someone for pulling our hair or calling us names. When we refuse to forgive we place ourselves in the position of the unjust servant and say, “Pay what thou owest;” then we forget the many sins that God has forgiven us, and forget what we owe to Him.
A boy was once holding a grudge against another boy. He came up to him after Mass one Sunday morning and offered to shake hands. He said, “I was saying the Our Father this morning and I have just seen what it means, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those we trespass against us.’”
A Chinese emperor once said, “After I have conquered their country, I will destroy all my enemies.”
He conquered the country and all his courtiers were expecting that there would be a great slaughter of the enemy leaders. They expected to find them beheaded, maybe after being tortured. They were surprised to find them all sitting at table with the emperor, laughing and joking!
They asked him, “You said you would destroy all your enemies.”
He answered, “I have destroyed them. I have forgiven them all and made them my friends.”