Why Forgiveness Sunday?

 Each year as we come to Forgiveness Sunday, many Orthodox Christians ask their pastors, "Why do I need to ask forgiveness from everyone in the Church?  Some of these people I hardly know.  I don't interact regularly with most of them.  How is it possible that I've offended them, or that they've offended me?  What therefore is the point of seeking mutual forgiveness?"

Father Alexander Schmemann once wrote brilliantly on the issue.  Here are his words:

One may ask, "Why should I perform this rite when I have no “enemies”? Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know?" 

To ask these questions is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. 

It is true, that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our lives, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But, the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them—in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being “polite” and “friendly” we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize – be it only for one minute – that our entire relationship to other men is wrong.  It makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual “recognition” which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.

You see, if I "hardly know" my brother or sister in Christ, how important have I made them in my life?  What do I display to them as the "value" that I see in them?  And, is such behavior not offensive?

And if I "don't interact" with my brother or sister, is not the same dynamic at play between us?  Have I not, by my ignoring them, shown them that I don't care about them?

Is it not these very same people, who could rightly be offended by my indifference, whose forgiveness I should seek FIRST?  Are they not MOST worthy of my most sincere repentance, seeking sincerely their forgiveness?

Some will say, "It's a two-way street, Father.  Why must I be the one to be caring?  They could come to me as easily as I could go to them!"

But you see, you just indicted yourself.  You admit - it's EASY to be a loving brother or sister in Christ.  Any relationship must begin somewhere.  None of us can be exonerated from a responsibility to care for the needs of others.  Our Lord just taught us that lesson in last week's Gospel!  "As you have done it to the least of My brethren, you have done it to Me." (Mat 25:40)

And so we come together, and in full sincerity, and with open hearts, we ask in all humility for EVERY other person to forgive us.  We dare not ignore our Lord's words on THIS day:  “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses…” (Matt. 6:14-15).  

I won't judge you.  But I NEED this forgiveness!  So to all of you, forgive me!  God forgives all!!!

Friday Before Cheesefare

[From St. Theophan the Recluse]

So will I save you, and you shall be a blessing promises the Lord through the Prophet Zachariah (Zach 8:13).  But under what condition?  Under the condition that every man will speak the truth to his neighbor, that men will righteously sort out their affairs amongst themselves, that men will not remember wrongs in their hearts against their neighbor, that they will love no false oath, and will love truth and peace.  If these conditions are met, says the Lord, they shall be to Me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness (Zach 8:8), and His blessing shall spread among them.  Then all strangers shall hear and say, 'Let us go speedily to them to pray before the Lord, for we have heard that the Lord is with them (cf Zach 8:21-23).  And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty (Zach 8:22).

Thus did the high moral purity of the first Christians attract people to the nations of the Lord.  Those who live always according to the spirit of Christ are, without the use of words, the best preachers of Christ and the most convincing apostles of Christianity.

The True Meaning of Forgiveness

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

On "Forgiveness Sunday" we find ourselves at the threshold of the Great Fast.  Saint Paul’s words from the day’s Epistle should ring in our ears and burn in our hearts, “It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” 

The Holy Church has been preparing us for this day for lo these past four weeks, bringing us gently into the realization that it is time to awaken ourselves from our spiritual slumber, that it is “high time” to arouse ourselves to spiritual efforts, the struggles with the flesh and the spirit, to conform ourselves to the will of God in our lives.

To take us to that point, let us review a Gospel reading NOT of this day, but of the days to come.  We all know where we are headed – to the Cross, to the tomb with Christ, to show our love by walking with Him as He approaches trial before the unlawful judges of the Sanhedrin, as He subjects Himself to beatings and scourgings at the hands of the Romans, and as He submits His body to death on the Cross and burial in the tomb.

On Holy Thursday, we will hear the following words from the lips of our Lord.  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  This phrase is recorded only in the Gospel of Saint Luke (23:34).  None of the others record this marvelous prayer from our Lord and Savior.

Now I ask you, why is it that Jesus finds it necessary to ask the Father to forgive those who crucify Him?  In previous accounts, we find Jesus making a point of showing the Scribes and Pharisees that He indeed, as the Son of Man, as the Son of God, has the authority to forgive sins.  We find this in at least two places.  One is in the Gospel of St. Matthew Chapter 9, where we find others bringing the paralytic to the Lord for healing.  A second is in the Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 7, where the woman comes and anoints the feet of the Lord with her costly ointment.  In both instances those who surround the Lord are at first horror filled to hear a Man saying, “Your sins are forgiven,” for they understand the forgiveness of sins to come from God alone.  But the Lord shows His authority in both these instances, teaching the unbelievers that He indeed has this authority.

Now, back to the Cross.  If Jesus clearly has the authority to forgive sins, why does He ask the Father to forgive those who crucify Him?  Why does He not simply say, “Father, I forgive them”?

You see, my brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord indeed HAS already forgiven them.  By His words, He shows us that HIS forgiveness is already complete.  By offering this prayer, He transfers His will to the Father, for they share all things.

And there is yet one even more marvelous thing within this prayer.  For when the Lord offers this prayer, He has forgiven them even as they are committing the sin.  Not after – during!  His crucifixion is not complete, He has not yet died on the Cross.  Those responsible for His crucifixion still had the ability, the authority, the power to bring Him down, to recognize His divinity.  As they stand, watch, and wait for the Life of the World to die, He prays for them, and forgives them.

How much more should I be forgiving of any who have only spoken badly of me, or taken from me, or dealt dishonestly with me.  I am not in any kind of mortal danger from what others have done to me.  Jesus was laboring to breathe.  The Lord was gasping for each breath.  His ligaments were stretched to the breaking point.  Read Psalm 22, and from it learn what the extent of the Lord’s suffering on the Cross.  

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? …. I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 "He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!" 9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. 11 Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. 13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

God Himself suffered in this way for me.  And who am I to say that I am offended to such an extent that I will not forgive.  What does our Lord teach me about holding back my forgiveness until one who seeks my harm asks for it?  Those who surround the Lord do not know Him.  They do not ask His forgiveness, because they desire His death.  Yet, He freely has already forgiven them, and transfers His forgiveness to the Father.

Those of us who call ourselves His followers do not seek His death.  We come seeking His life, and we desire to have that life in abundance.  We cannot have it, we cannot share it, unless and until we follow our Lord in His example of forgiveness.  

This is why Orthodox Christians gather around the world on this day to seek one anothers' forgiveness.  Only by entering the Fast with our hearts free from holding onto judgment of others can we truly begin to judge ourselves, to cleanse ourselves, to approach the Lord with open hearts, to be truly and fully repentant.

Only then might we hope to hear our Lord offer His forgiveness to us, coming to know concretely that He has already forgiven us as well.