13 September 2026 #emotionalwellbeing
The Gospel picks up where we left off last week and praise the Lord for that. Last week we talked all about sin and the necessity of correction. This week it’s all about apologies and forgiveness and how holding onto wrath and anger is not good for the soul. We could go two ways with this one and I think it’s prudent to cover both.
First, I do not take correction well, as my husband will verify. I tend to be defensive, emotional, and claim the attitude I-don’t-get-mad-I-get-even-when-the-time-is-right. Unhealthy, I know and I’m working on it. Fr. Josh Johnson has an AMAZING little purple book titled, The Pocket Guide To Overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins, and I highly recommend it. During Lent last year, I focused on wrath, which turned out to be the root of my attitude problem. I spent the entirety of Lent on that single chapter – and still revisit it from time to time.
Sirach reminds us today that wrath and anger are hateful things, and the sinner holds them tight. Over time, this ‘holding on tight’ then turns into something deeper: Vengeance. Or to use another term: Retaliation. Sirach knows human nature very well. What we do not like to hear (well, maybe just me) is that the ultimate distributor of justice is Our Lord.
We tend to want retribution and justice now. We love to see cause-and-effect justice enacted in our presence. We withhold forgiveness until justice is served, hopefully on a silver platter with a beautifully penned apology and chocolate and flowers to boot. Until that time, we hold on to the hurts and betrayals. Unhealthy.
Second, remember that line in the Our Father which we pray every Sunday? You know, the one that goes, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” That one. We tend to ignore the word “as” here. We are asking Our Father to forgive our sins in the same way that we forgive others’ sins. So, if I’m harboring a hurt, nourishing an anger, and holding out for retribution then… yep, the Father will treat my errors in the same way, with anger and eternal retribution. If that’s not a reason to give up my resentment and wrath, I don’t know what is.
In our Gospel today, it sounds to me like Peter has the same problem. This reading is right on the heels of last week’s how-to-talk-about-sin and the necessity of doing so. It seems to me that Jesus and the disciples have been preaching about repentance and the changing of behavior and most folks just don’t want to hear it. I mean, Jesus gets thrown out of his hometown… the people he grew up with and went to synagogue with don’t want any part of his message. Nor do the rabbis, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, or the scribes; all those people he knew, respected, and loved turn a deaf ear and actually want to kill him. Peter wonders… How do you forgive cruelty like that? He doesn’t even know about the Passion yet. But Jesus does. And still Jesus says…
Forgiveness has no limits.
You see what just happened here? We know that holding on to anger, wrath, and vengeance are deadly to us all. Jesus tells Peter that the secret to forgiveness isn’t justice that we can see here and now, it’s just… forgiving from the heart, letting go of it all, and letting the Lord take care of the repercussions. Authentic forgiveness is harder than it sounds, I know. But it’s necessary. #emotionalwellbeing