Pastor's Reflection

God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel today. God is speaking of someone who does wickedness: “If he turns from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins which he committed” (Ez. 18: 27). That is an important turn.

We are not used to hearing sin called “wickedness.” But God is clear. And He is clear that He will help us. He will give us the strength to turn away from sin.

It can be difficult to turn away from sin. We can get used to sin. We believe it is just the way the world operates: the “little” “white” lie, the under the radar pilfering of this or that from work, the consciously missing Mass on a Holy Day for no serious reason like illness, the small “cutting corners” on our taxes or expense account. People might disagree on whether those things are “wicked.”

But then, the question arises, how much sin is okay? That is like asking how much poison is okay for me to drink. Once we tell the little seemingly insignificant lie simply for what we think is convenience, we let into our soul an affection for duplicity. No lie is insignificant. And, besides, once even a small amount of poison is in us, we can’t control it. We may think we can. But that is the poison already working. It’s called pride.

Jesus invites us to do one simple thing. In speaking of the man in the Gospel, Jesus says, “…he changed his mind” (Mt. 21:29).

God gives us the grace to change. No matter how many corners we have cut or wrong turns we have made, God wants to intervene in our life. He is not a harsh punisher. He loves us. He wants us to turn, to change our mind and go deeper to Him. He won’t make us into a robot or control us. He invites us. We have to accept with our free will and invite Him deeper into our soul than we have ever allowed Him to go before. He will counteract the poisons. He will heal us.

God invites.

Now, it is our turn.

God bless,
Msgr. Brian Bransfield

God is eager to convey something to us. It can be difficult to hear Him. There is a lot of worry, fear, and hurt that get in the way from us hearing God. We hear our worries all the time. They seem to have their own ready access to our heart. Worries burden us and get us to do things their way … or at least interfere with us feeling free and able to relax.

            But remember, God is eager. Jesus tells us that God is like a landowner who doesn’t give up. He goes out repeatedly to bring us close to Him. And then, when we find all the reasons why worry should still be in control, have the last word, and win the day, God intervenes.

            Sometimes we get used to the weight of worry. We can tell ourselves that this is just the way things are, the way we have to do life. Where there is a lot of worry, we usually find at least two other things: control and escape.

            Control is relentless. Control tries to make everyone else a mind reader, so they will do what it is thinking and wants. Control can become a way of life. And it generates a lot of pressure.

            Escape is what happens when the control we generate ramps up and overloads us. We seek to numb ourselves through drinking, scrolling the internet, shopping, gossip, or myriads of things. But numbness wears off. Sadly, the wounds and pain that numbness covers don’t wear off.

            Wounds and pain can only be healed. God is eager to convey His healing to us. AN early, and oft repeated step in healing is letting go of the worries and control. That means trust. God is eager to invite us to trust. Let Him.

God bless,

Msgr. Brian Bransfield

Seventy-seven times …

For many of us, the hardest work we will ever do is the work of forgiveness.

In the Gospel for this Sunday, St. Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?”

Jesus responds, “I say to you not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

For Peter, seven times seems to be a lot: “As many as …”

And then there is the Lord, “… seventy-seven times.”

Jesus is taking St. Peter and each of us, deeper into the mystery of forgiveness. Yes, forgiveness is a mystery. Peter wants to see it as a transaction. People who treat forgiveness as a transaction have no idea how deep the pain from some wounds goes.

In the mystery of forgiveness, what forgiveness is not, is almost as important as what forgiveness is.

• Forgiveness is not a "letting off the hook" of those who have wounded us;
• Forgiveness is not saying what happened to us was or is okay;
• Forgiveness is not a feeling;
• Forgiveness is not “getting over” anything;
• Forgiveness is also not the result of willpower;
• Forgiveness is not a linear transaction that resets anything;
• Forgiveness is not reconciliation. Reconciliation involves two or more people. Forgiveness involves one person who seeks healing.
• One of the most important sentences I read this year read, “Forgiveness is a decision. Not an eraser.” by the author Lysa Teerkeurst in Forgiving What You Can’t Forget.

Forgiveness is a decision we return to as often as the wound asks to be remembered.

Healing comes in layers, a direction we choose again when the pain resurfaces. Forgiveness is the momentum behind healing. Forgiveness is our more or less steady decision, with God’s grace, not to let the pain determine what we will and will not carry.

The wound we receive when we are hurt is, in some ways, the opposite of forgiveness. But the wound does not have the last word. Forgiveness announces a new word the full dimensions of which we don’t understand at first.

 And those 77 times? It does mean we put forgiveness on automatic repeat.

What is the significance of 77?

In the Gospel of Luke there are listed 76 generational links from Adam to Jesus, but 77 names are listed when both Adam and Jesus are counted. When we forgive, in the name of Jesus, we forgive the offense all the way back, through all the generations, of every force and circumstance that led in any way to our being hurt. And we do it not to let someone off the hook. Not as an eraser.

But so that we can be more free each day.

God bless,

Msgr Brian Bransfield