Through Forgiveness we build the Church

Pentecost John 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Happy Birthday! Today we celebrate the birth of the church, we are the church so today is our birthday, so congratulations! Today we remember that the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and empowered them with a mission. This is what it means to be a church, Mission! Church is not about buildings, nor hierarchy, nor structures and traditions. No, being a church is having a mission! Jesus Himself gave us our mission by saying, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." The Holy Spirit started our church to continue the mission of Jesus. And for 2000 years we have continued the mission of Jesus: evangelizing, preaching, helping the poor, healing the sick, visiting the imprisoned. This is all part of the mission of the church and we have fulfilled it, but on the day of Pentecost Jesus only spoke of one thing: Forgiveness! Jesus sent us to forgive sins. Now, we have to remember that Jesus was not speaking of the sacrament of confession as we understand it. He was talking about the sacrament of baptism. Obviously when the church was started there weren't many members so baptism was the main way to grow the church, but baptism also exists to forgive sins. In children it forgives original sin, but in adult baptism it forgives all sins, but I would like to invite you to reflect on the importance of forgiving and also of being forgiven. In my priestly ministry and I have experienced many times people who are not able to forgive. After many years, they still hold grudges, feelings of anger against people who have offended them. Many times in one's own family. "I can't forgive my brother because in 1978 he offended me," "I'm not going to forgive my dad because he left 30 years ago," etc. Etc. Of course, in the world there are many examples of not forgiving, not only wars, but of nations against nations that do not get along. Now I'm not saying it's easy to forgive, it isn't. I'm also not saying that we should let someone else keep taking advantage of us. For example, there are some marriages that ended due to infidelity or violence, sorry does not mean that we continue in a situation of violence or danger. But we do have to forgive if we really want to be a real church. Nor does forgiving mean forgetting. There's no place in the Bible that says we have to forget in order to forgive. How is it possible to forgive offenses, wounds, pains, especially those of many years? We have to remember that today is the day of Pentecost. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to go forth and forgive, to be not the force of hatred in the world, but forgiveness, peace, and love! By forgiving we continue the mission of Jesus. The second reading speaks of St. Paul, it speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us not to do the easy, or common, but the rare and impossible. I think that's why we have the sacrament of confession, not only to forgive our sins, but to receive God's grace to be able to forgive others. I invite you at this moment to close your eyes. And to remember someone you have not been able to forgive. Try not to focus on the offense but on the person. If you can, in your heart say, "I forgive you." If you can't, it's not time, then simply say, "Lord, teach me to forgive, Lord, help me to forgive." That's how we build the church that is how we build the kingdom. So let us continue our mission, let's continue to build the church by being a force for forgiveness and peace in the world today. Happy Birthday!