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Forgive, For Eucharist's Sake: A Lenten Reflection | Carl E. Olson
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"To err is human, to forgive, divine." This well-known phrase,
Monsignor Ronald Knox observed,
captures two of the greatest mysteries of the Christian life: "That
man, being what he is, can rebel against God; and the doctrine that God,
being what he is, can forgive man."
It also captures the essence of the fifth petition of the Our Father:
"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us." Like the rest of the greatest prayer of the Christian Faith,
it is deceptively simple. It’s very easy to pass over it and to think,
"I know what they means: unless we forgive others, we won’t
be forgiven." If so, we flirt with mistakenly turning it into a bargain,
or into a sort of contract: I do this, this happens to me.
But being a child of God is not about bargaining or entering into a business
contract. It is about authentic love and participating in a supernatural
covenant. The difference between the two is immense. A business contract
is a legal agreement that outlines how services are rendered and paid
for. Complete strangers can make contracts with one another—and can
fulfill those contracts perfectly without ever knowing the other party.
But a covenant is a sacred and intimate union in
which those involved give themselves completely to one another: body,
soul, heart, and mind. If we break a contract, we can expect legal repercussions;
if we break a covenant, we rupture a relationship.
Put another way, and in the context of Lent, it is the difference between
doing something out of obligation and doing it out of love. Do we give
up a certain food or activity during Lent out of a sense of obligation,
or out of love? Are we motivated by the desire to look good in the eyes
of others, or by the desire to more deeply know and love God? Are we fulfilling
legal obligations owed to God or are we pursuing a relationship with our
Father?
Seen in this light, the petition takes on a different shape. Far more
than a balancing act, the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells
us, "forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation
of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another"
(CCC 2844). Forgiveness is at the heart of the new covenant, for without
God’s forgiveness, man would remain alienated from Him, and without
our forgiveness of others we would not have communion with our brothers
and sisters in Christ.
So forgiveness is always a gift from God; without His grace, we cannot
forgive. This is why forgiveness is intimately linked to the fatherhood
of God, something that can even be seen in the words of the Psalmist:
"Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has
compassion on those who fear Him" (Ps. 103:13).
There are two well-known parables of Jesus that articulate, in concrete
terms, the Our Father’s exhortation. One is the parable of the merciless
servant (Matt. 18:23-35), in which a slave who owes an unpayable sum of
money to his mast is forgiven of that debt because of the master’s
compassion.
But that same slave then demands that a fellow slave who owes him a small
sum pay it immediately or be thrown in prison. He fails completely to
comprehend or consider the example of his master, whose gracious compassion
far exceeds the demands of justice and the law. The master, angered at
the slave’s evil action, throws him back into prison and punishes
him again. Jesus states, "So shall My heavenly Father also do to
you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
In the end, these relationships are familial. They are covenantal, not
merely contractual.
The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) is even more familiar
to us. The focus of commentaries and homilies is often on the son, who
spurns his loving father and sets out to live a selfish life of pleasurable
irresponsibility.
But it is the love and mercy of the long-suffering father that is most
striking. Having every right to be angry with his wayward son and to reject
him, he instead runs to greet him upon his return home, embracing and
kissing him even though he is in rags and covered with filth. And when
the insolent "good" brother complains about this warm welcome
he is met with perfect love: "My child, you have always been with
me, and all that is mine is yours." The prodigal son, having been
humbled and now filled with love, is restored to communion with his father.
His brother, however, does not even address his father as "Father,"
indicating his lack of love. Although outwardly faithful, he severs that
communion because he has been living in a contractual, not covenantal,
relationship.
The ultimate goal of forgiveness is communion with God and with one another.
It is no coincidence that this petition flows from the petition asking
for daily bread. As we saw last week, one meaning of the fourth petition
is a recognition and desire for the Eucharist—for Holy Communion.
There are numerous connections to be made. Christ is the incarnation of
forgiveness and to receive him in Eucharist, is to be flooded with the
reality of forgiveness. In the Eucharist we receive the very body and
blood of Christ, given for us on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
Receiving Holy Communion cleanses us of venial sins and helps to keep
us from committing mortal sins. As well, "asking forgiveness is the
prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer"
(CCC 2631). The Eucharist provides the grace needed to forgive others
and to embrace them as brothers and sisters even if our feelings and memories
remain hurt by their actions.
Forgiveness, Romano Guardini writes in his classic work The Lord,
"is a part of something much greater than itself: love. We should
forgive, because we should love." The covenantal communion that man
has with God through Jesus Christ flows from the Communion of the Trinity,
which is the "source and criterion of truth in every relationship"
(CCC 2845).
We will err—and others will err against us—because we are human.
But we will also forgive, for we share in the divine life of God, Who
has forgiven us and made us His children.
(This article was originally published in the March 28, 2004 edition
of Our Sunday Visitor
newspaper.)
Related IgnatiusInsight.com articles and columns:
• Our Daily, Everlasting Bread: A Lenten Reflection | Carl E. Olson
• Benedict and the Eucharist: On the Apostolic Exhortation,
Sacramentum Caritatis | Carl E. Olson
• The Meaning
and Purpose of the Year of the Eucharist | Carl E. Olson
• Eucharistic
Adoration: The Hour That Makes My Day | Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
• The Eucharist:
Source and Summit of Christian Spirituality | Mark Brumley
• The Doctrine (and
the Defense) of the Eucharist | Carl E. Olson
• For "Many" or For "All"? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Reflections
On Saying Mass (And Saying It Correctly) | James V. Schall, S. J.
• The Mass of
Vatican II | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
• Worshipping
at the Feet of the Lord | Anthony E. Clark
• The Biblical Roots
of the Mass | An Interview with Thomas J. Nash
Carl E. Olson is the editor of IgnatiusInsight.com.
He is the co-author of The
Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code and author
of Will
Catholics Be "Left Behind"? He has written for numerous
Cathlic periodicals and is a regular contributor to National Catholic
Register and Our Sunday Visitor newspapers. He has a Masters in Theological Studies from the University of Dallas.
He resides in a top secret location in the Northwest somewhere between Portland,
Oregon and Sacramento, California with his wife, Heather, and two children.
Visit his personal web site at www.carl-olson.com.
Visit
the Insight Scoop Blog and read the latest posts and comments
by IgnatiusInsight.com staff and readers about current events, controversies,
and news in the Church!
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G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the finest Christian authors and apologists
of the past two hundred years. Raised as an agnostic, he embraced Christianity as a young man, ultimately entering the Catholic Church
in 1922. He wrote hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories, poetry, apologetics, literary
criticism, and nearly everything else imaginable. Dale Ahlquist, president and co-founder of the American
Chesterton Society and author of
G.K Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, writes, "Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism,
history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked
by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless
today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper." Read more
about the life and work of this remarkable thinker, author, and apologist.
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Nothing To Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church
by Russell Shaw
Shaw, the former communications director for the U.S. Bishops, discusses the abuse of secrecy in the Church, the scandals it has caused and the serious
problem of mistrust that exists in the credibility of the Church. He is not concerned with the legitimate secrecy that is necessary to protect confidentiality and people's reputations, but
with the stifling, deadening misuse of secrecy that has done immense harm to communion and community in the Church in America. Shaw raises such questions as: What kind of Church do we want our Church to be, open or closed? What kind of Church should it be? And how much secrecy is compatible with having
such a Church? As Pope Benedict XVI has stated, "The consequence is clear: we cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another." The Church is a communion, not a political
democracy, and thus openness and accountability are even more crucial for the life of the Church than they are in a democracy. In a talk he gave many years before he became the current Pope,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had this to say about the reality of ecclesial communion: "Fellowship in the Body of Christ and receiving the Body of Christ means fellowship with one another. This
of its very nature includes mutual acceptance, giving and receiving on both sides, and readiness to share one's goods ... In this sense, the social question is given quite a central place
in the theological heart of the concept of communion." This is a beautiful vision of the Church. Shaw's aim in his book is to make a contribution to realizing this vision in the concrete circumstances
of the present day, by helping to end the culture of secrecy, especially within American Catholicism, and replacing the destructive culture with an open, accountable community of faith.
Read more about Nothing to Hide.
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