7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 2025

We are not done with the Sermon on the Plain yet. It feels as if what Jesus said last week continues to this Sunday. “Blessed are you when people persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you”. Here Jesus is asking us to forgive and also to bless those who hurt us.

This is by far one of the most radical teaching put forth by Jesus. And it is a daunting challenge to our human nature. The Christ who emptied His divinity to assume our humanity is inviting us to be divine like Him.

When we consider the topic of forgiveness, we may conceive of it as a feat which we struggle with, at best, to accomplish or at worst, we are plainly unable to do so. As such, how often have we come up with justifications like “I can forgive but I cannot forget” or “I can forget but I cannot forgive”. The ability to forgive is a gargantuan task. Often enough we are a tangled mess of emotions that simply overwhelms whatever will or “voluntas” we may have.

A proof of this mess is how we slip with ease into a victim mentality. Firstly, there are genuine victims and there are people who are persecuted because of their orientation or preference, their race or skin colour, their class or social status, their political beliefs or their religious persuasion. Persecution is real. Or one is simply an unfortunate victim of crime, robbed or scammed. But how often have we looked at an instance or an event which is unfavourable and immediately conclude that it was a racist incident? Our interpretative lens is heavily tinted by our preconceived labels.

When we have preconceived ideas such as being a victim, it is easy to blame everyone instead of taking responsibility for our own actions. When one is a victim, forgiveness will always feel like a losing proposition. A person, who believes himself or herself to a victim, is already disadvantaged, and for this person, hatred, dislike, gossip can be a security that one holds onto. In such a situation, to forgive would be to lose that one advantage a person has. Furthermore, this victim culture also has an ugly step-sister and it is the outrage industry. When we accept our victimhood, we can be easily triggered.

However, instead of approaching forgiveness as an achievement we might want to consider it from the perspective of result and a fruit. How? In general we have lost the long-term perspective that allows us to hold contradictory emotions together. Our quick-solution tendency is to try to get rid of pain because we are unable to deal with a less than perfect situation. Pill-popping and numbing narcotics are easy solutions to this inability to cope with the contradictions arising from natural imperfections.

After all this is a valley of tears and no matter how perfect a world that we hope for and desire, it often falls short of perfection. Such an imperfection becomes a burden when we lose sight of the Resurrection. If we are unable to see beyond death to the Resurrection, then we will always be driven to exorcise our discomfort, which is a kind of imperfection that belongs to this temporal reality.

After each day of creation, God saw that it was good. Yet it whatever He had created was not the perfection of heaven. Imperfection is not a sign of God’s lack. Rather, it belongs to the natural order of creation. Thus, we need to consider forgiveness from the perspective of heaven or our desire for heaven. What Jesus taught becomes relevant to our effort to forgive. “Blessed are you when people persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you” becomes an invitation to bless even those who persecute you. From the perspective of heaven, the fruit of blessing is forgiveness.

Try blessing someone whom you really dislike and watch how the hatred that grips your heart gets loosened. Blessings and curses cannot belong together. You cannot in all in sincerity ask God to bless and at the same time curse a person. It just does not work that way. How often have I wished I were a mutant like Magneto. I would have the power to crush terrible drivers in their cars andfeel the glee of disposing of them like ragged dolls. But to what avail? Whereas, when we bless others, even bad drivers, we free ourselves and we allow ourselves to look for ways to reconcile. It may not be that we forget but we will definitely not look for ways to harm another person.

When Jesus taught us to forgive, He did it to both the Disciples and the crowd in Matthew’s Gospel. Whereas, in Luke, He addresses only His Disciples. This is such a fundamental call that it raises Christianity to a noble calling. Luke holds such a high standard for the Disciples to imitate God.

Indeed Christian life is not for the faint-hearted. It is not the weak who forgive because they have no choice. Rather it is the strong who forgive because they choose to. Ultimately, the blessing we invoke on others will make us walk through this valley of tears not unharmed but with confidence and hope in the Lord.

Forgiveness is like the air we let go of in a balloon. Unforgiveness is like the millstone around our neck which does nothing but drags us down. It weighs upon and drowns us. It is energy-sapping because it takes a lot of energy to be angry and to hate. On the other hand, it takes less energy to be joyful.

In the 1st Reading, David was badly wronged by Saul and yet David spared Saul’s life. Our victim-society is an existential reality from which we cannot escape. Therefore, we must deal with the reality that there are a lot of victims but the question is not “How do we deal with being wronged by others?”.Rather, the question is “How not to live as victims and despite our victimhood, how can we be freed from the oppression of unforgiveness?”.

Sometimes, it feels good that we can get even especially when misfortune befalls our enemies. Like being Magneto but the thrill of schadenfreude is always short-lived. Ultimately, it leaves us empty even if we should get even. As they say here, “padan muka” or “serves you right”. It feels good but after that, what? Are you happy or satisfied? What frees us is when we are able to bless our enemy and at the same time, to leave it to God to exact justice the way He sees fit. This is trust and such is the grace that we are invited to this Sunday.