There is probably not a person among us who has not had an angry person in his life. Even as children, we may have had that experience. A friend or classmate got mad at us. He avoided us and maybe didn’t want to talk to us at all. How many of us have had this experience repeated to us later on. Perhaps even just today, we came to the temple with a heavy heart for our neighbor.

But beware! Jesus is speaking to us today: “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37b).
Jesus says very plainly in his discourse, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” But this forgiveness is not just so that one can also be forgiven at the end of one’s life.

It is said that a group of theologians once met in England and discussed for hours how Christianity is actually (if at all) different from other religions, what of Christian doctrine has no parallel in other religions… They could not find an answer, until finally, belatedly, the well-known thinker C. S. Lewis and to the question without hesitation said: “That’s easy. The forgiveness of sins.” But not only the forgiveness of sins by God, but also the forgiveness of trespasses among people with one another. Even unintentional injuries need to be forgiven.

Forgive one another, for it is hard to live in tension with the feeling of forgiveness. I am sure you will agree with me that a person who cannot forgive is in a way a slave to the other person. When we carry forgiveness within us, we cannot concentrate on anything; we are nervous, literally impossible. We try to avoid the other person and wish him no good. Well. Certainly not. So let’s try, at this moment, to imagine a person whom we cannot forgive. Who we cannot bear and who, if he did anything, would get on our nerves. Let us imagine him and bless him in our minds. Let us often bless him in our minds and pray for him. Let us pray for forgiveness.
Because forgiveness is a miraculous disappearing act that makes everything that has happened go away, the pain may remain, the inability to meet the person will remain as well, but to wish the other well, to pray for him, to bless him, to try to love him – all of these points to forgiveness.

It is unfortunate when, in a family, parents and children or siblings do not speak to each other. Therefore, today, let us remember that we have only been together on this earth for a few years. Maybe just a few more days and we will never be able to say to each other: “Please forgive me.”

Therefore, let us ask for strength and courage at this Mass – that we may always be able to forgive the other as soon as possible.

Have you ever walked down the street and a neighbor with whom you have been at loggerheads for a long time roamed across the street? As he approached you, various memories were swirling around in your head, and suddenly the neighbor greeted you. You first looked at him in amazement; then you said hello, and then you started talking to him. Eventually, it became clear that you weren’t such great enemies and that all the irregularities would be sorted out.

Jesus says: “If you love those who love you, what reward can you expect? Do not even the tax collectors do this? And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing do you do?” (Mt 5:46-47)

In the Old Testament, it was confirmed that my neighbor is only a `suspect,’ that is, a Jew, and only to him am I to show love, while others are to be regarded as sinners and enemies. That is, I am not even to greet them and show them good deeds – this is what the Pharisees followed. They welcomed only their equals, not publicans and sinners, who to them were outcasts of humanity, traitors to their country.

But Jesus asks us as Christians to act differently, to “do something special.” Greeting in oriental countries meant much more than mere courtesy. Greeting meant wishing blessings and peace on another.

We Christians are to do something special to distinguish ourselves from the pagans. Jesus asks us to pray for our persecutors, love our enemies, and be great sinners. For we are all children of our heavenly Father, and we are all brothers to one another. And so we are conformed to our infinitely merciful Father.

St. Peter writes that we are called to bless others so that we may become heirs of a calling (cf. 1 Pet. 3:9). So we Christians are to distinguish ourselves from others by blessing even our enemies.

In the early Church, it is known that “all believers were of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). They loved one another, and this love of theirs penetrated to those who had not yet believed in Christ, and the Gentiles themselves pointed to the Christians and said among themselves, “See how they love one another,” and this love brought them to faith in Christ. Even when they persecuted Christians and imprisoned them, the Christians did not behave rudely and disrespectfully, leading to many conversions.

We see that it pays to be unique and not conform to this world and do what this world asks of us. Most of all, it pays to be like Jesus, to strive for perfection because our heavenly Father is also perfect.

Let us try to conclude by praying in the spirit of today’s Gospel: Lord Jesus, you alone teach us how to love our enemies. You prayed on the cross for those who crucified you. We ask you to grant us the grace to behave as you did so that we too may become heirs of eternal blessing.

I suppose most of you have a garden at home. And I think you’ve noticed one fact, too. If you don’t want the weeds to do you any harm, you need to pull them up while they’re still small. Just after it’s germinated. Jesus, the teacher in cultivating our spiritual life, reminded us today that a similar principle applies in the spiritual plane.
He said, “You have heard that it was said to the fathers, ‘You shall not kill.'” Therefore, whoever kills will go to trial. But I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother will be brought to trial.” (Mt. 5:21-22).
So that sin, which is infinitely more dangerous than a weed in a garden, may not harm; it must be spotted, nipped in the bud. Preferably, when it is just sprouting, it is easiest to get rid of it and not harm oneself or one’s neighbors.

The Lord Jesus reminds us of this concerning anger. In the germ, the offense is of little intensity, perhaps related to feelings of resentment, injustice, envy… At this stage, it is not difficult to root it out, overcome it, or forgive one’s neighbor. But if one begins to nourish it within oneself, water it, feed it, and not renounce it, anger will slowly start to grow and take more profound and broader roots. And gradually, it begins to bear malignant fruit. The man himself suffers inwardly; anger eats him up, kills peace and joy in him, causes tension. One cannot keep this inner discord hidden within oneself for long. It begins to manifest itself in the form of psychological or physical harm to one’s neighbor, or even murder.

And we can still learn something important in the garden. Weeds thrive most where no plants, no vegetables, grow. That’s where it has the most nutrients, moisture, and light. So, too, sin takes root best where no virtues grow. So it is not enough to suppress anger, but one must also cultivate the positive purity of love. Be reconciled to your brother! (cf. Mt 5:24).
It is, therefore, necessary, for a moment, to turn our gaze away from the altar and look beside or even behind us, at our brothers and sisters. What is my relationship with them? Would anyone blame me for anything? Wouldn’t that be justified? But let’s not just dwell on examining our negatives, our faults in this area. Let us go further. Let’s ask positively! What could I do for them specifically? Maybe for the elderly and the infirm or those closest to me, at least something small.
We have a chronically familiar commandment: thou shalt not kill. But I do know one way of perhaps killing enemies.

The courtiers have accused Emperor Sigismund of treating his enemies so magnanimously that he should have killed them all. The Emperor replied: ‘You are right, enemies are to be destroyed – but with kindness. Then we will kill the enemies in them and make friends of them.”
Let us not be destroyed and consumed by anger, by the desire for revenge. Let us remove it by being reconciled to our neighbors, eliminating their enemies, and making more friends. Our life will become a little more beautiful, more joyful, and peaceful. Well, I wish for you and myself that this Holy Mass, where the touching love of Jesus for us is recalled, may strengthen us and reignite our desire to fight for love, peace, and reconciliation.

There is no more critical issue in our transformation efforts than one
obvious: What exactly is wrong? What’s going on inside us? What leads us to depression, fear, sexual perversion, hostility, and a host of other problems that plague us? Is it perhaps in the depths of our treacherous, hidden in the depths of our hearts that even a sincere commitment to following Christ and a determination to live as we ought? Do most counseling efforts address some fundamental issue essential to inner transformation, necessary for inner transformation?
The problems are everywhere: my parent without a partner who is trying to be a mother and a father, there’s the wife who’s hopelessly in a relationship with a weak man as a woman, some men struggle with them often the overwhelming urge to engage with pornographic literature, and adolescent young people who are depressed by feelings of defiance towards their parents they love. Sometimes human suffering seems too much. Any of us would tell a story. When I reach my limit, when nothing can surprise me, a friend confides in me his burden, the existence of which I had no idea existed, and my numb complacency dissolves in a desperate cry for God to do something more than what I think he does.

Perhaps my point of view is a bit tainted by my vocation, in which I interact daily with people affected by cancer, so I completely forget that some people are also healthy. But when I have the opportunity to talk intimately with my “healthy” friends, I usually find that either their lives aren’t as balanced as they seem, or the appearance of contentment is maintained at the expense of their depth of self-awareness and relationships with others. Christians must remember that we live in a sinful world. This truth has a profoundly significant impact. Everything is true, to a certain to some degree, wrong. We should therefore assume that an honest look at our lives and the lives of others will reveal serious problems. Our response to them need not be a disgusting retreat, a cynical disinterest, or a tendency to pursue our comfort superficially.
We must not resign ourselves to defeatism and live out our days in the gloom. Nor is the solution to retreat to arrogantly elitist conversations with other enlightened ones who are elevated above trying to set things right. It helps just as little to escape the painful reality of watching television, working all sorts of jobs, cultivating friendships, and pleasant religion. We are called to enter the disturbing facts of our own lives and the lives of our neighbors with life-changing truthfulness. But therein lies the rub. The truth we embrace and the principles we uphold don’t seem to change many people. They may keep us going, but not with the bottomless vitality that would attract others. Can we reorganize ourselves and perform with composure as people who live for God, yet we know that something in us is entirely different from what the Bible says. Something is missing. Something is not correct, and we know it. Just like a patient who carefully observes the doctor’s orders and yet still feels the same pain, we fear (and rightfully so) that there’s some other serious problem that the prescribed medication isn’t working for.

If looking inward will yield any results, we must begin by accurately defining the underlying problem that requires change. What is it? The dirt inside the bowls and plates must be uncovered and removed? Our nature? Lack of self-control? Traumatic childhood memories? Insincerity in surrender? Inner insecurity? Mental illness? An unmanageable temperament? Self-regret? Ignorance of the Bible? Laziness? Negativity? Stubborn sinfulness? Lack of meaning in life? What do we have to deal with if we want to change substantially and gradually until we die? What is the problem that requires correction to bring about inner transformation? When we identify our situation, then and only then – we can deeply appreciate its solution. The more deeply we understand, the uglier the ugliness of sin, the more beautiful the cross of Christ will be to us.

All of us are probably familiar with the folk wisdom, “As the mountain calls, so the mountain calls.” Everyone knows what an echo is, and it doesn’t take much knowledge to recognize that there is also an echo in human relationships. Jesus speaks of this echo: “What you want people to do to you, do also to them.” (Mt 7:12).

But this call of Jesus transcends our folk wisdom, which is more akin to the Old Testament, “What is not pleasing to you, do not do to another” (Tob 4:16). Neither calls directly for doing good. Instead, folk wisdom speaks of a response to a particular act, and Old Testament wisdom discourages doing evil.
Jesus’ exhortation, however, calls for doing good. If he calls for doing good, he knows that good is not always rewarded with good. He knows that interest is complex; it is narrow and passes through a narrow gate. But it is the only way to life.

If we were to compare the moral prescriptions given by God to Moses, or given directly by Jesus, with the drugs of other religions or ethical principles, we would find that they largely coincide. Why? Because of the ability to know the good. Even a young child knows that pain, battle, or sickness is terrible and knows what is good. From the knowledge of good and evil that touches me, I realize that others suffer for sin too, and good help them develop. From my own experience, I derive what is good and what is evil. However, this ability to know good and evil is not absolute. We often doubt what is right and what is wrong. God, therefore, helps us with His Law. When He determines to do this, He does not want to limit us but guide us to attain life.
A certain Verbist said in a sermon, “To reward good with evil is diabolical, to reward evil with evil is instinctive, to reward good with good is human, but to reward evil with good is Christian.” We see that it is not always true: as the mountain is called, so it is answered from the hill. How many times is well rewarded with evil? If I strike, I will strike first. But if I do good, will I see the reward? Certainly, but only from God. Man can also “thank” me for good with evil.

One of my professors presented us with his slap theory. He said: “A young girl appeared on a television show and said that she didn’t know what was good and what was bad, and she didn’t even know who had the right to decide.” The professor added that he wouldn’t explain it to her; it would probably take longer. He’d give her one slap. If she snapped out of it, she’d know right away what the difference was between right and wrong.

The professor, however, is no grobian, but what he meant to explain to us with this was that people who relativize the concept of right and wrong are either not very smart or very cunning. Let us beware of the latter especially. They will say that we cannot know evil, so they will do evil – while we cannot judge them.

But knowing good is not enough; we must also do it. Live according to what we know. Let us dig deep into our hearts. Let’s find out if we act the way we would like people to work. Let us ask at this holy sacrifice: the strength to change it if we don’t.

Did you ever stop to notice. All the children dead from war? Did you ever stop to notice.The crying  Earth, the weeping shores?

Surely, you know many people in your neighborhood who often grumble about their lives. You know about their afflictions that weigh them down. And actually, we don’t even have to go far because each has our cross to bear. The crosses are different, just as people’s attitudes toward their afflictions are different. We often hear from our unbelieving brethren, “How can you believe today, in a time of such progress?” And some will even say, “If God shows me a miracle, I will believe.”

And just today, we hear these words in God’s Gospel, which invites us to think a little differently when it says that the Jews will not receive a sign from God. For God offers a miracle or a character `to him who believes in him.’
As St. Luke offers it to us, the Word of God presents Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. This journey takes him long, stretching almost the entire Gospel. This is not because Jesus could not find his way, but because of his love for people, especially when he saw all the people’s misery. One of the events during this journey is the dispute between the listeners and the Teacher himself. When the crowd began to gather, Jesus pronounced this generation evil. Why? Because he asks for a sign. What that sign was is clear from the events before and the character of the whole gospel. The crowds wanted to see a miracle as proof of Jesus’ divinity. But Jesus gives an answer that does not lose its authenticity even today. He offers them a sign through the figure of the prophet Jonah. This `man of repentance’ was cast into the underworld through the great fish. But God left him there for three days. And He delivered him again. Christ suffered for us on the cross, died, was buried in the tomb. But God raised him after three days to live and conquer death.
Doesn’t the message of faith from God Himself ring out to us today? “Believe, and you will see miracles,” not, “here is a miracle and believe.” Consider Jesus’ contemporaries. Weren’t all who saw signs and wonders converted? Didn’t God win all his hearers? Not at all.

There is a view today that evil is winning in the world. Let us look at those parts of the world where Muslims persecute Christians. Inhuman treatment, abuse, cruel humiliation, even killing. What miracle do these Christians see that they continue to be Christians? They believe that Jesus is the one who has the last word in the world. Their hope is the cross, this hint of hope even in such a sea of pain.
We today do not have to face such a threat. But let us note the example of a trust that in itself – if it is sincere – is a miracle. “Whoever wants to experience miracles in his life, let him not be afraid to open himself to Christ. He takes nothing away, but perfects everything in us”, as Pope Benedict XVI said.

Almighty God, we thank you for creating us. Teach us to trust in you. In times of trial, it significantly helps us believe and receive a sign. For you have already given us the most significant warning: yourself for us

In my opinion, it is harmful and disorienting for Christians to claim that praying is easy, as easy as talking to a father or a mother, or a friend. I understand that it might be easy to pray some oral prayer, some communal prayers, a shotgun prayer, or make a superficial connection with God. But go deep into the unfathomable mysteries of God, to acquire and use psychological skills to grow in grace, to adapt this growth to the variability of the human personality, to climb ever higher up the dark and steep slope of God’s of demands to a transforming union with God… complete this process is hopelessly long and challenging. Coming to the depths of life with God is the most complex and challenging workman can do. Praying is not easy.

Grace offers an unlimited range of possibilities, from zero to infinity. Not all men have been given the same development ability; not all will be provided the exact requirements, each according to the measure of the gifts they have been given. The problem is, of course. No one can say I was given these abilities, so that I will produce that result. Only God is the giver; only He has His standards. We must be utterly faithful without thinking hard about how much we have been given and what we have to pay back. Be that as it may if we pray little and without perseverance and discipline, we cannot expect any strong experience of God; we can expect neither life-changing nor dazzling advances.

Prayer is a skill while prayer is a work of grace, it is also a skill and, as
such is subject on a psychological level to the norms of any teaching in any human endeavor. Prayer, therefore, requires a method, order, and discipline. In a word, a professional procedure. I understand that God can reveal even to a simple country woman through special inspired graces, inscrutable insights of the mysteries of his being, and his love without the need for any special procedures. But these graces, we do not earn or receive these graces. “They are given.” beyond all calculation and logic because they are free. Without grace, no amount of action will accomplish anything. On the contrary, however, I have been able to observe many times and first hand, that even vital professionals, people gifted with extraordinary abilities, had remained
in the first stages of life with God, lacking effort and discipline, when in fact they “got” the wings and the fuel with which they could reach extraordinary heights.

Think of how many years, how much energy, methods, and pedagogies are required in any human formation: painter, composer, professional and technical worker. If prayer is, among other things, a skill, let us not imagine illusions that a high level of life with God can be achieved without energy, order, and method. However, we are certainly counting on teacher number one, who can throw all forms overboard, introduce us to the most amazing truths, and skip all the laws of psychology and pedagogy. But usually, God respects the developmental laws of life, just as he does in the case of the mustard seed: it is a tiny seed, almost invisible. It is sown. It flows days, weeks pass, and seemingly nothing happens. But after a while, it begins. Something like the germ of a plant that can’t be seen, months go by, the plant grows and grows until it’s a thick bush that sprouts branches so large that birds can nest in its shade (cf. Mark 4:30-33).
This long developmental process is valid for all life, for growth in prayer, in fraternal life, so that in our lives to model the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The prophet Elijah shows us very well what our prayer should look like. In his day, the people fell away from the true God and worshiped Baal. Elijah made such an agreement with the prophets of Baal. Everyone was to prepare a sacrifice, and here the sacrifice would be burned; the one’s God is faithful. First, the prophets of Baal prepared the gift; then, they prayed to him to light the sacrifice. They cried all day, and nothing happened. They started shouting and making cuts on their bodies so that Baal would hear them, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prepared the sacrifice and poured water on it three more times. Then he prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, to hear him so that all the people would know that he is the only God. Then the Lord lit the whole sacrifice on fire and thus answered Elijah’s prayer (cf. 1 Chr. 18:20-40).

We can see what our prayer is to be. Not a lengthy, much-needed prayer, but we are to pray humbly and to the glory of our Heavenly Father. This is the kind of prayer God likes best and will accept first.

Let us pray: Lord, Jesus Christ. You taught your apostles how to pray correctly – we ask you to do the same. Teach us to pray to our Heavenly Father with humility, for He knows very well what we need; teach us to glorify our Father and your Father with our prayers.