TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY –

16th /17th SEPTEMBER 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our collect for this Sunday is “Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy….” Feeling the working of God’s mercy, require us to show mercy to those who have wrong us in anyway. Showing mercy is not seeking for vengeance but for justice.

It is not asking the wrong doers to apologize or beg for forgivingness when they are not willing and ready to do that, but for us to heal ourselves by forgiving the wrong done against us unconditionally.

We are told in the first reading not to seek vengeance, for vengeance is for the Lord. That WE should not allow anger to leads us to resentment. God grants compassion and forgiveness of sins to us when we let go the sins of others through forgiveness. For the Lord is Compassion and love and rich in mercy.

Through the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, God has conquered evil and has giving us victory over death, thus to forgive is to die to self and rise with Christ Jesus who is love manifested through the cross.

The life-blood of the Christian community is forgiveness. A community that does not forgive lives in the past, lives in bitterness, lives in agony and continues war of revenge.  Forgiveness has been associated to many psychological, mental, physical and spiritual disorders. Not letting go is storing up bitterness and hatred and living in perpetual agony.

The message of this Sunday is God’s works of redemption in action through forgiveness. God’s in Christ Jesus have come to set us free and for us to attain this salvation, we ourselves should set free those who have wrong us.  A very difficult task but we take our example from the Master himself who even on the cross forgave those who unjustly crucified him.

We pray that God will give us that courage to let go, that spirit of forgiveness so that we may be set free also from all our wrong doings.

DUKIYA OTITOYOMI JEROME C.S.Sp.