No Religion at 9/11?
You may know that New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, decided that the September 11 ceremonies will not include any religious component. I’m not necessarily arguing that we should have a priest or rabbi or minister speak at the 9-11 ceremonies, but we do need to know that America cannot get past what they did to us without God’s help. Even with His help, it is extremely difficult at times to forgive those who have hurt us. All of us have been seriously hurt by someone—think of a former spouse, or an unfair employer, or an employee who wrongfully sued you, or any friend who stabbed you in the back. None of us wants to live with hurt. But to heal the hurt, we must forgive, from our hearts.
Ten years ago
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, over 3000 people, folks just trying to make a living, were either burned alive or crushed to death by a handful of Muslims that decided to kill as many innocent people as possible. Many jumped from the 1400 foot towers rather than be burned alive, while 342 New York firefighters perished as the buildings collapsed upon them. We’ve all seen the photographs this week, pictures and sounds that reopen very real wounds.
Truly, as Ben Sirach says in our first reading, “wrath and anger are hateful things.” Wrath and anger on the terrorists’ part, and wrath and anger on our part. Like demons, past hurts crouch at our door, waiting to consume us. The only way to peace and happiness, and freedom, is to forgive our enemies. We have all hurt each other; no one is innocent. But all of us can forgive.
Christian Forgiveness
A distinctive virtue of the Judeo-Christian faith is forgiveness. “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice, and when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.”
In the Gospel, a man is forgiven a “huge debt.” How much did the servant owe? About $4 trillion in today’s currency. His fellow servant owed him, in turn, about $5000. Imagine someone owes you $5000. Or worse, has cheated you out of $5000. Can you forgive the debt; can you forgive the person? If you think only of your hurt, you will never forgive. But if you think of God’s love, his magnanimity—he has forgiven me $4 trillion!—you will make progress in forgiveness. If I don’t forgive, I am the loser. I am the prisoner—the other guy moves on, but I am trapped in my anger and hurt. I’m obsessed with the past and cannot live in the present.
No Peace without forgiveness
With time, we can forgive anyone, if we apply ourselves. Not many people hold a personal hatred against the 17 Islamic terrorists—they are all dead, after all. Even those who planned the attack, now in Guantanamo Bay—we don’t know them personally. Much harder to forgive are those we know or knew personally. The most obvious example is an ex-husband or wife, or former friend who has written us out of their lives. (A lady said to me, “forget about forgiving the ex-husband; my real struggle is forgiving the present husband!”) The good news is that we can forgive, with God’s help. We must beg God every day for the grace of forgiveness, we must pray for those who hurt us, we must focus on the goodness they possess (everyone has some good) and their humanity. Until we do forgive them, from our hearts, we will have no peace.
We turn to Our Lady. At the Cross, she forgave, with her son: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” So, as a good start, pray a decade of the rosary every day for your worst enemies. Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we will be able to forgive, and receive deep peace.
You may know that New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, decided that the September 11 ceremonies will not include any religious component. I’m not necessarily arguing that we should have a priest or rabbi or minister speak at the 9-11 ceremonies, but we do need to know that America cannot get past what they did to us without God’s help. Even with His help, it is extremely difficult at times to forgive those who have hurt us. All of us have been seriously hurt by someone—think of a former spouse, or an unfair employer, or an employee who wrongfully sued you, or any friend who stabbed you in the back. None of us wants to live with hurt. But to heal the hurt, we must forgive, from our hearts.
Ten years ago
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, over 3000 people, folks just trying to make a living, were either burned alive or crushed to death by a handful of Muslims that decided to kill as many innocent people as possible. Many jumped from the 1400 foot towers rather than be burned alive, while 342 New York firefighters perished as the buildings collapsed upon them. We’ve all seen the photographs this week, pictures and sounds that reopen very real wounds.
Truly, as Ben Sirach says in our first reading, “wrath and anger are hateful things.” Wrath and anger on the terrorists’ part, and wrath and anger on our part. Like demons, past hurts crouch at our door, waiting to consume us. The only way to peace and happiness, and freedom, is to forgive our enemies. We have all hurt each other; no one is innocent. But all of us can forgive.
Christian Forgiveness
A distinctive virtue of the Judeo-Christian faith is forgiveness. “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice, and when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.”
In the Gospel, a man is forgiven a “huge debt.” How much did the servant owe? About $4 trillion in today’s currency. His fellow servant owed him, in turn, about $5000. Imagine someone owes you $5000. Or worse, has cheated you out of $5000. Can you forgive the debt; can you forgive the person? If you think only of your hurt, you will never forgive. But if you think of God’s love, his magnanimity—he has forgiven me $4 trillion!—you will make progress in forgiveness. If I don’t forgive, I am the loser. I am the prisoner—the other guy moves on, but I am trapped in my anger and hurt. I’m obsessed with the past and cannot live in the present.
No Peace without forgiveness
With time, we can forgive anyone, if we apply ourselves. Not many people hold a personal hatred against the 17 Islamic terrorists—they are all dead, after all. Even those who planned the attack, now in Guantanamo Bay—we don’t know them personally. Much harder to forgive are those we know or knew personally. The most obvious example is an ex-husband or wife, or former friend who has written us out of their lives. (A lady said to me, “forget about forgiving the ex-husband; my real struggle is forgiving the present husband!”) The good news is that we can forgive, with God’s help. We must beg God every day for the grace of forgiveness, we must pray for those who hurt us, we must focus on the goodness they possess (everyone has some good) and their humanity. Until we do forgive them, from our hearts, we will have no peace.
We turn to Our Lady. At the Cross, she forgave, with her son: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” So, as a good start, pray a decade of the rosary every day for your worst enemies. Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we will be able to forgive, and receive deep peace.
RSS Feed