LITURGY AND LIFE

By Tom Saretsky

To err is human, to forgive is . . . out of the question?

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sept. 12, 2010

Exodus 32: 7-11; 13-14
Psalm 51
1 Timothy: 12-17
Luke 15: 1-32
 
As a young child, I remember my dad was a stern disciplinarian. He was one you never wanted to cross. We didn’t live in fear of Dad, but we did fear him to a certain extent. He was, at times, difficult to get close to. Mom, on the other hand, was the affectionate one. She was the hugger, but Dad was the one who dished out the punishments. Mom was soft and gentle, but she was not a pushover. Despite the discipline my parents handed out, their love for us was never in question.   

Parenting is extremely difficult. I have children of my own, and I’m appreciating just how tough it is from my own experiences. How do we really know when we are being too strict? Too lenient? Too hard? Too soft? How can we tell if what we say to our children, in a moment of anger, will forever damage them? What will they remember and talk about when they grow up to be my age? What will they hold on to? And why does it hurt so much more to us, as parents, to scold or discipline them? 

Discipline is necessary and all parents desire well-mannered and respectful children, but trying to keep their behaviour in check takes more out of me than it does out of them . . . I think. There are many trials and struggles in parenting, but despite them all, we ultimately look for ways to show how much we love our kids. 

The readings for this 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time reveal great expressions of deep love and unconditional forgiveness from God, the ultimate parent. God can identify with what parents go through when they raise children. The Israelites, in the first reading, were an ungrateful people. They “have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have been quick to cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and have sacrificed to it.” 

Today, this scenario is alive and well. How many times will our kids act perversely? How many times will they turn away from what we have taught them? The “calf” that they worship is their technology, their music, their idols of movie and media. God threatened his wrath, but Moses reminded God: “Remember how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” And God changed his mind. God was quick to forgive, to forget and even quicker to love. We hold on to things much longer than God does, but despite our children’s rebellious ways our love must remain constant — for nothing they do should ever make us love them less. 

In the second reading St. Paul testifies to the unconditional mercy and love of God. Paul was “formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence.” Paul writes, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.” Through Paul, Jesus Christ displayed his utmost patience, for Paul was a murderous and violent man. But through Paul God revealed his mercy and forgiveness. 

The ultimate examples of unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness are found in today’s Gospel. There is more celebrating the lost sheep that was found than the other 99 that didn’t stray. The woman turns her house “inside out” in order to find the lost coin. When she finds it, she throws a party that would have cost much more than the original value of the coin.

And finally, the father of the prodigal son was filled with compassion, he rejoices and throws an extravagant party for the sinful son who “squandered his property in dissolute living.” 

Society today is too much filled with rage, anger and vengeance. To err is human but to forgive is out of the question, it would appear. Why such a propensity toward revenge and getting even? Have forgiveness and mercy become lost virtues? Our society needs the role models of the father of the prodigal son, the good shepherd and the woman looking for the lost coin. They reveal the mercy, the faithfulness and the love of God that should be found in all of us. 

Saskatoon’s newly ordained Bishop Donald Bolen chose as his motto: “Mercy within mercy within mercy.” This motto is greatly needed in our society today. May this become our motto, our mission and the ideal to which we all strive.

Saretsky and his wife Norma have two children, Nathan and Jenna. He is a teacher and chaplain at Bishop James Mahoney high school in Saskatoon.