Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

LEARNING TO LET GO…

            Learning to let go of one’s offense to you is something that is purely divine. What has someone done to you that has created this bitterness in you that you are seeking all means to destroy the person? Revenge and retaliation have found their way into the Christian life of some Christians. “Christianity’s teeth” was cut in the spirituality of forgiveness when on a certain Friday, Jesus gave us the greatest example of forgiveness. Led by bitterness and jealousy the Jewish hierarchy conspired with the Roman government to cruelly subject Jesus to excruciating pain and death. It would have been “natural” for Jesus to seek revenge with his powers but he did not only forgive his persecutors but found excuse for them before his Father. Like a court room legal drama, he had every opportunity to operate as a prosecuting attorney before his Father the eternal judge but when the case was called Jesus in his pain and tribulation acted as a defense attorney for those who were persecuting him. He begged God, to forgive them for they knew not what they were doing.

            The DNA of Christianity is a call to forgiveness so why is it that our churches are filled with people involved in all kinds of revengeful prayers. Led by some pastors, people now seek “heaven’s pepper, fire, thunder, etc.” to destroy their enemies. Some Christians even in their quest to destroy their fellow Christians boldly say that they will start off in Church and finished off their enemies in the fetish shrine. Whoever says that he can justify unforgiveness with scripture is not an authentic Christian but a pagan in Christian clothing. If we need to learn the act of forgiveness, today’s first reading gives us a graphic example.

            We are told that Saul went in search of David in the desert of Ziph to destroy him but instead of finding David, David found Saul in his sleep. Abishai, one of David’s followers whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day, let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need a second thrust.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him, for who can lay hands on the Lord’s anointed and remain unpunished?” David had all the opportunity in the world to take his revenge but he decided to be the Old Testament figure who will prefigure Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness. The Old Testament “theology” seem to go with the Mosaic law of “an eye for an eye” but David sowed the seed of God’s forgiveness.

The Davidic act of forgiveness enhances the beauty of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic…” You may be seen a fool when you follow David’s  and Jesus’ example but if we really want to live in a peaceful world, that is the best way to live. For it was Mahatma Gandhi who said: “an eye for an eye will only make the world go blind.” Let us learn to forgive for “to err is human but to forgive is divine.” OUR LADY OF PERPETUA HELP PRAY FOR US.