Pentecost Sunday

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Traditionally, Catholics interpret this passage narrowly. It concerns the authority of ordained priests to forgive repentant Catholics of their venial and mortal sins, and to reconcile them with the Church. But surely Jesus’ first words on that Easter Sunday evening go further than a few thousand priests and their dwindling number of penitents.  

If you shop in religious goods stores you’ve probably seen small, polished stones with words like Peace, Love and Joy on them. I’m told they’re quite popular, except for the Forgive stones. Mysteriously, they don’t sell.

But it’s the first command Jesus gives his newly inspired disciples. He might have said “Receive the Holy Spirit; feed the hungry” or “Receive the Holy Spirit; clothe the naked.” He might have said “instruct the ignorant” or “comfort the sorrowing.” But his first command was forgive.

We find that same emphasis on forgiveness in his Sermon on the Mount. No sooner has he taught his disciples the Our Father than he says, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” If the Holy Spirit does nothing else within us, it teaches us to forgive others.

To forgive is to renounce judgment. The forgiving person realizes, “I just don’t need to do that. Nothing can be gained by judging.” More importantly, “I don’t have the authority to judge.” The Author of The Letter to the Hebrews says,

We know the one who said: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay," and again: "The Lord will judge his people."

Saint James adds:

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?

Forgiveness, then, begins with the humble realization that I am not God! Thank God! and "Let God be God!" 

But no matter how willing I might be to forgive, sometimes it doesn’t come easily. I feel insulted and hurt and this grievance just doesn’t go away. Reasons for that can be many and complicated.

Sometimes, it’s not time to forgive. An abused wife may have to flee from her home to a safe shelter first. I don’t think it’s possible to forgive someone when you’re in danger. Nor can you forgive someone who represents a serious threat to your loved ones. The impulse of the Holy Spirit at that moment must surely drive you to safety and the protection of loved ones. Later on, perhaps, from a safe vantage point, when one feels both outwardly and inwardly free, the process of healing that leads to forgiveness can begin.

In other scenarios, I may have to search my soul and discover why I am so upset. Perhaps my pride has been wounded and I hate that. Or I have tried too hard to control a person or situation and cannot forgive the rebel who made me look like a fool. Sometimes I am the emperor with no clothes!

I’m sure there are many reasons why forgiveness comes reluctantly but here’s one I just thought of: perhaps my enemy needs my prayers. There is no one else is praying for that person, and we are chained together by an unfortunate incident. God has laid it upon my heart to do so.

Ultimately, I have to turn to God and say, “I cannot do it. I cannot forgive!” And God will say, “Well, of course you can’t, you nitwit! Only God can forgive sins!” And you ask God to heal you and forgive your enemy and let the grace of healing – that Holy Spirit of Pentecost – flow into you and through you into your enemy.

Victims of violence often become perpetrators of violence. If they don’t commit the same crimes, they carry the grudges nonetheless; and the vengeful spirit can persist for generations in a community, church or family. But the violence stopped with Jesus as he died on the cross. He would avenge his death on no one. When he rose from the dead he taught us to forgive with the same Spirit. The violence stops with me.