Contempt has walls 4,000 miles thick!

Readings for the
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

James Joyce, in his novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” recounted a retreat given by a Jesuit that ended in a fire and brimstone recounting of hell:

“In earthly prisons the poor captive has at least some liberty of movement, were it only within the four walls of his cell or in the gloomy yard of his prison. Not so in hell. There, by reason of the great number of the damned, the prisoners are heaped together in their awful prison, the walls of which are said to be four thousand miles thick: and the damned are so utterly bound and helpless that, as a blessed saint, St. Anselm, writes in his book on similitudes, they are not even able to remove from the eye a worm that gnaws it.” James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chapter 3

Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel message of salvation. Save yourself for heaven’s sake! The Lord’s commandments about forgiveness are some of the most practical, life-giving words in scripture. If someone has hurt you 490 times, most probably, they have decided not to change. If God can’t change them, what chance do you have? Jesus teaching about forgiveness is his invitation to save yourself. 

The Holy Spirit and forgiveness
Forgiveness is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. The Holy Spirit is not the God that we see, instead he is the God that we can see by. He is like a light turned on in a dark room so that you don’t smash your toe against a chair leg. He is the light that allows you to discern your relationship with others and make faith filled choices. St. Augustine wrote about loving God,

“For no one would say that he had served the interests of a fountain by drinking from it, or that he had served the interests of a light by using it to see.”  Augustine, Saint. The City of God: Books 1-10 (I/6) (The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century) . New City Press. Kindle Edition.

We love God when we, in a human way, try to love something like how God loves. God is, “the light by which things are known, and the good for the sake of which things are done; and that it is from him that we receive the principle of nature, the truth of doctrine, and the happiness of life” said St. Augustine. Ibid.

When we refuse to forgive, we refuse the light. The Lord instructs concerning what it means to close our eyes to the light of the Holy Spirit:

Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Mt. 13:31-32

The Holy Spirit is the light by which we see, how we learn to love God and our neighbor. The light presents us the inescapable choice between forgiveness and seeking revenge. Consider the deep background of today’s Gospel.

The Book of Genesis: The story of Lamech
Understanding the biblical background of Jesus’ teaching provides the basis for understanding. In an important sense, all roads lead to Genesis. After the fall of Adam and Eve, they had two sons named Cain and Abel. Cain slew Abel and he was banished by God. Cain, who was worried that he would be subjected to revenge and violence, complained to God. God told him that

“if anyone tries to take vengeance on Cain, vengeance shall be taken upon him sevenfold.” Gen. 4:14-15. 

Five generations later, his great-grandson, named Lamech boasted that he could do better than God on his own. Here is what Genesis records as Lamech’s words,

Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” Gen. 4:23-24

Though Cain was a murderer, God protected him from revenge. Lamech doesn’t need God’s protection. He can take care of himself, thank you very much. Lamech thinks God is to easy on his enemies and so Lamech will avenge himself, who needs God, when I can revenge myself seven-seven times. This is the background for Jesus’ commentary on the story of Lamech.

So, exactly how much money are we talking about here?
So, in the story, Peter, referring to the story of Lamech, asks,

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times? Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21.

In these two lines of scripture, Peter is referring to God’s promise to revenge Cain. The Lord, couches his reply in the story of Lamech,  Although our translation of the Gospel says that the debtor owed “a huge amount” the literal Greek says that he owed the king “10,000 talents.” A day’s wage was one denarii and there are 6,000 denarii in one talent, so, long story short, it would take about 164,383 years to pay off the debt at the rate of one denarii a day. What is the punchline? God will do that to us unless we forgive from our hearts.  (See, A Portrait of an Artist as Young Man)

Mercy must be shown in order to receive mercy. Focusing on revenge blinds us.

What is our takeaway?
There is a difference, obviously, between forgiveness and reconciliation. They are intimately connected but not identical concepts. Forgiveness means, at its basic level, that you do not take revenge on Cain. Although Cain may never apologize to you and may argue until his dying day that Abel deserved exactly what he got, forgiveness is that you let Cain live and wish him no harm.

Reconciliation is something different. Remember last week, Jesus said to his disciples,

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. Matthew 18:15

This is what reconciliation does as in the story of the Prodigal Son. A relationship is restored. Forgiveness is the Christian response when reconciliation is seventy-seven times in the future, if at all. When reconciliation is not possible, you forgive so that you do not get sucked into the rage and bitterness with which anger wounds the soul.

The Holy Spirit is the light by which we see our neighbor. What happens if we refuse to see through the light of forgiveness? We are stuck with someone who sins against us 490 times and we pay them back in full 490 times. A perfectly symmetrical, self-destructive relationship. If we refuse to see by the light of the Holy Spirit despair follows. St. Catherine of Siena, in her “The Dialogues” teaches that we can’t really love like God loves. The best we can do is love in a fully human way. God is speaking to Catherine,

“Whatever love you have for me you owe me, so you love me not gratuitously but out of duty, while I love you not out of duty but gratuitously. So, you cannot give me the kind of love I ask of you. This is why I have put you among your neighbors: so that you can do for them what you cannot do for me, that is, love them without any concern for thanks and without looking for any profit for yourself. And whatever you do for them I will consider done for me.” The Dialogues

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it this way.

“It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession.”  CCC 2843.

We live in a moralistic culture that does not forgive offenses, but shames people. We don’t have to live in that darkness. A 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that contempt is “the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.” Mercy is the recognition, through the light of the Holy Spirit, that even our enemies are children of God. Spiritual freedom isn’t standing up for the people with whom you agree, it is understanding the person with whom you disagree. This is not possible without the spirit of forgiveness, the light of the Holy Spirit, without which darkness reigns in the walls of hell, four thousand miles thick.