Friday after Ash Wednesday
(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)
Tac had a rough life.
He grew up the son of a bar owner and married a woman who worked in the
bar. The two lived loosely with much
partying. Then Tac’s father died of
alcoholism, and he told his wife that they must reform. They quit their jobs in bars and began a
family. One day Tac went home and found his wife raped and murdered. He was accused of the crime but easily
cleared himself. However, Tac could not
clear the anger in his head. When the
murderer was caught, Tac tried to take revenge by getting himself arrested in
the same jail as the murderer. The plan
failed, but Tac was sentenced first to probation on a drug charge, then after
being caught with more drugs to a state abuse punishment center.
There things turned for the better. Tac met a chaplain who, as he says, “saw
Christ in me.” With the chaplain’s assistance,
Tac forgave his father and finally his wife’s murderer. Tac attended the execution of the murderer and
heard his final statement. The man thanked
God for his friends and family who enabled him to reform. Right before his
death, the murderer turned to Tac and asked, “Can you forgive me?” Tac nodded yes.
This true story teaches that reconciliation is more than
praying for your persecutors and telling yourself that you forgive them. It is seeking them out to forge a
relationship of mutual care and respect.
Jesus demands us to do this in today’s gospel. He tells us, who come to mass, that as we
arrive and remember that we have done something wrong to another, we must seek
that person out, offer our apology and pray that it is accepted. If we cannot do this, we should not expect
God to be lenient with us on judgment day.
