God Gives Us Control

We’re not characters in a video game being controlled by a God with a joystick. God could have created the universe this way, but instead, he’s given us agency. While many circumstances in our lives are not under our control, we can control our own choices, and how we respond to events, and our choices have consequences.

We all endure some amount of unfairness and injustice throughout our lives, some so much more than others. And while we can pray for another’s conversion and work for a more just society, it will never be perfect. These things are out of our direct control.

In the readings today we’re presented with something more than a choice of how to respond when we are offended, we are given a command. The verse sung before the Gospel says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” In the Gospel Jesus says we must forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times, which in biblical terms is essentially infinity.

Holding onto resentment or seeking retribution has serious consequences for us internally and externally. When we forgive, we stop the cycle of offense and violence. This is how saints behave, this is how they allow God to transform their hearts, and transform the world, and it’s what we’ve been created for. This is the only way to peace, the only way to eternal life. The readings this week make that clear. So let’s not gloss over the message for us this week, but allow it to fill our hearts, so we can become the best version of ourselves.