THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS If we look back over our lives, most of us will find something that we very much regret. We might remember speaking or acting in ways that hurt or damaged others. We might be aware of not doing something that we could have done. Sometimes these experiences of personal failure can leave us very burdened. We can find it hard to move on from them; they trouble us and we struggle to be free of them. They can weigh heavily on us and drain us of energy. The first disciples of Jesus must have felt like this in the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion. During the days of Jesus’ final journey, they had all deserted him. Their mood in the aftermath of Good Friday can only have been one of deep regret. They must have felt that their relationship with Jesus was over. Today’s gospel, however, tells us the first words the risen Jesus spoke to his disciples were, “Peace be with you”. These words assured the disciples of the Lord’s forgiveness. For those first disciples, the initial experience of the risen Lord took the form of a profound experience of forgiveness. This was the risen Lord’s gift to them. The gift of forgiveness can be difficult to receive at times. We wonder if we are really forgiven. According to the gospel, when Jesus said “Peace be with you”, they responded with alarm and fright and thought that they might be seeing a ghost. The risen Jesus then questioned them, “Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts?” It took the disciples a while to realize that they were forgiven. It is only after the disciples had come to receive this gift of forgiveness that they were sent out as messengers of the Lord’s forgiveness to others. After the risen Lord had assured them that they were forgiven, He commissioned them to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all the nations. It is forgiven sinners who are entrusted with the task of proclaiming the good news of God’s forgiving love to all. Peter, in today’s first reading, declares to the people of Jerusalem that, although they had handed Jesus over to Pilate, God’s forgiveness was available to them if they turned to God by believing in Jesus. The church has been faithful to the mission entrusted to the disciples, proclaiming down the centuries the good news that God’s forgiveness is stronger than human sin. In raising Jesus from the dead and sending him back to those who had rejected and failed him, God was declaring that he can raise anyone from their sins. The risen Jesus reveals a faithful, forgiving God. Before we can receive the Easter gift of God’s forgiveness that comes to us through the risen Lord, we have to acknowledge our need for that gift. That is, we need to admit the truth that we are always in need of the gift of God’s forgiveness. Recognizing our need and asking God for the gift of forgiveness is what we call repentance. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a privileged opportunity to admit the truth, to acknowledge our need of God’s forgiveness and to ask directly for it. In that sacrament the risen Lord says to us, “Peace be with you”. The words of absolution include the prayer: “through the ministry of the church may God grant you pardon and peace”. Just as the first disciples were sent to spread that forgiveness to others, in a similar way, we who receive the same gift are sent out on the same mission. As forgiven sinners, we proclaim - with our lives - the presence of a forgiving and faithful God. We extend to others the gift we have received from the Lord. This will not always come easy to us. We need the Holy Spirit if we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. In the weeks ahead that lead up to the feast of Pentecost, we might say this prayer: “Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and enkindle in me the fire of your love”. We could recite this prayer especially during those times when we find ourselves struggling to pass on to others the same gift of forgiveness that we continue to receive from the Lord. TAKEAWAY NOTES a) We need to relive the “Upper Room Experience” in the Holy Mass. The same Jesus who, in the Upper Room, prepared his disciples for their preaching and witnessing mission, is present with us in the Eucharistic celebration. He invites us to share in the “Liturgy of the Word” and in “The Liturgy of Eucharist.” In the first part of the Mass, Jesus speaks to us through the “Word of God.” In the second part, He becomes our spiritual food and drink. Thus, today’s Gospel scene is repeated every Sunday on our parish altars. Like the early disciples, we come together to repent of our sins, express our thanks for the blessings we have received, listen to God’s words and offer ourselves to God on the altar - along with our gifts of bread and wine. We also share in the spiritual food Jesus supplies, and we are sent to share his message with the entire world. b) Jesus needs us as witnesses to continue his mission. Witnessing to Jesus is testifying, by the way we live, that the power of the Risen Jesus has touched us and transformed us in the most remarkable way imaginable. Witnessing to Jesus is letting Jesus speak through us to other people. Jesus needs Spirit-filled followers to be his eyes, ears, hands and feet so that we may bear witness to his love, mercy and forgiveness by exercising these gifts in our compassionate loving service of all our brothers and sisters. The Church desperately needs dedicated witnesses: priests, deacons, Brothers, Sisters, parents, teachers, doctors, and nurses – all of us. c) Our daily lives need to become the means of experiencing and sharing the risen Lord with others. Just as the disciples experienced their risen Lord in their community, let us learn to recognize the presence of Jesus in our own homes, social service centers, nursing facilities, workplaces, hospitals, and schools. These are also the places where we have the opportunity to convey our peace and joy to others. d) We need to become agents with Jesus in the establishing of the Kingdom in our world. Jesus wants us to be a community which shares and in which everything is shared - a community which knows how to recognize Jesus in the poor, in the marginalized, and in the sick - a community to bring healing into people’s lives - and a community of peacemakers and not makers of division or conflict. Let us all entrust ourselves to the Loving Mercy of God, and Our Lord Jesus Christ. Putting our trust in Him, knowing that He has loved us so dearly and so patiently. Let us be filled with the desire to repent from our own sins, the sins which have been purchased and forgiven through the shedding of the Body and Blood of Our Lord on the Cross, as a perfect sign of His eternal love for us. So Let us humble ourselves before Him, allowing Him to lead us in our way, so that we may truly serve Him faithfully as forgiven children, that we may contribute in whatever way we can, to move forward with the many works of the Church of God in our world today. May God be with us all, and forgive us all our sins, and embrace us all who desire to return to Him and be reconciled with Him. Amen. In Christ, Father Akuti