Christ emphasizes so insistently the need to forgive others that when Peter asked him how many times he should forgive his neighbor he answered with the symbolic number of"seventy times seven," [131] meaning that he must be able to forgive everyone every time. It is obvious that such a generous requirement of forgiveness does not cancel out the objective requirements of justice. Properly understood, justice constitutes, so to speak, the goal of forgiveness. In no passage of the gospel message does forgiveness, or mercy as its source, mean indulgence toward evil, toward scandals, toward injury or insult. In any case reparation for evil and scandal, compensation for injury, and satisfaction for insult are conditions for forgiveness (Emphasis, mine.).
"Love does not rejoice in evil" writes St. Paul. Given the disclaimer italicized above,how should we understand the oft-quoted saying "Hate the sin, love the sinner"? 2. The Church has the mission of extending Christ's mission of reconciliation and forgiveness. John Paul II puts it this way:
Authentic knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love, is a constant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not only as a momentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as a state of mind. Those who come to know God in this way, who "see" him in this way, can live only in a state of being continually converted to him. They live, therefore, in statu conversionis; and it is this state of conversion which marks out the most profound element of the pilgrimage of every man and woman on earth in statu viatoris.
It is obvious that the Church professes the mercy of God, revealed in the crucified and risen Christ, not only bv the word of her teaching but above all through the deepest pulsation of the life of the w hole people of God. By means of this testimony of life, the Church fulfills the mission proper to the people of God, the mission w hich is a sharing in and, in a sense, a continuation of the messianic mission of Christ himself. Dives In Misericordia, 136-137
How do you think can your faith-community become a place where this mission of the Church is realized? 3. The late Pope writes the following about the eucharist and the sacrament of penance/reconciliation...
129. The Church seems in a particular way to profess the mercy of God and to venerate it when she directs herself to the heart of Christ. In fact, it is precisely this drawing close to Christ in the mystery of his heart which enables us to dwell on this point--a point in a sense central and also most accessible on the human level--of the revelation of the merciful love of the Father, a revelation which constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man.The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy--the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and of the Redeemer--and when she brings people close to the sources of the Savior's mercy, of which she is the trustee and dispenser. Of great significance in this area is constant meditation on the word of God, and above all conscious and mature participation in the eucharist and in the sacrament of penance or reconciliation.
The eucharist brings us ever nearer to that love which is more powerful than death: "For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup," we proclaim not only the death of the Redeemer but also his resurrection, "until he comes" in glory. [114] The same eucharistic rite, celebrated in memory of him who in his messianic mission revealed the Father to us by means of his words and his cross, attests to the inexhaustible love by virtue of which he desires always to be united with us and present in our midst, coming to meet every human heart.
It is the sacrament of penance or reconciliation that prepares the way for each individual, even those weighed down with great faults. In this sacrament each person can experience mercy in a unique way, that is, the love which is more powerful than sin. This has already been spoken of in the encyclical Redemptor Hominis, but it will be fitting to return once more to this fundamental theme.
It is precisely because sin exists in the world, which "God so loves . . . that he gave his only Son, [115] that God who "is love" [116] cannot reveal himself otherwise than as mercy. This corresponds not only to the most profound truth of that love which God is, but also to the whole interior truth of man and of the world which is man's temporary homeland. (Dives In Misericordia, 129-133)
How do you think can we benefit more from the sacraments of the eucharist and penance as we create a community of faith that is responsive to its mission to show forth the wealth of God's mercy in Christ?
