Contemplative in the Mud

Overabundance and Onwards

1–2 minutes

Benjamin Embley

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7 comments on Overabundance and Onwards

At the Saint Clement Hofbauer Centre in Pattaya, Thailand

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord teaches us the Our Father. At the end of this teaching, we are told,

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Mt 6:14–15)

Is this harsh? Even granted that God can only work in us as we allow him, and a hardened heart admit no growth or dilation, is it really that in the exact same measure that we forgive, we are forgiven? That is, is it true that if I act in small way, I only am acted on in a small way? Is the measure of forgiveness our own limitation? Or does God, rather, go over and above and take all our little acts and reap rewards in his greater greatness? One of the newest Doctors of the Church, Saint John of Ávila is of the opinion that, in a dynamic to enlarge our hearts, when we do a little, God is yet more generous in his relations with us:

He will pardon you many crimes for the one offence you forgive your neighbour; He will be long-suffering with you in return for a little patience shown toward others; He will reward you with abundant riches for the small alms you bestow. Strive earnestly, therefore, to keep the law of charity, for in that is your life.

When we forgive our neighbours a little, God does the same to us – and then goes beyond. He wants to open our hearts, action by action, little by little, so that when we see ourselves deeply loved, we turn around and can more deeply love our fellow-creatures also.

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Benjamin Embley

With backgrounds in engineering (BSc PhD) and philosophy (MA), Ben has lived and worked in England, France, and Thailand and is now back home as a settler in the unceded traditional territory of the Wabanaki peoples in Canada. He is a Laudato Si’ Animator and currently studying an MTS Peace & Justice in Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

7 responses to “Overabundance and Onwards”

  1. sandyfaithking Avatar
    sandyfaithking

    I see forgiveness itself as a gift from God.

    Reply
    1. Ben (เบ็น) Avatar
      Ben (เบ็น)

      There is nothing good that is not a gift from God, true. =)

      Reply
  2. sandyfaithking Avatar
    sandyfaithking

    How did you get ‘today’s Gospel’? Are you reading The Little Way of Lent (as I am) or is there somehow a set reading for set days? Is it a liturgical thing?

    Reply
    1. sandyfaithking Avatar
      sandyfaithking

      I mean lectionary, not liturgical (forgive my non-conformist ignorance).

      Reply
      1. Ben (เบ็น) Avatar
        Ben (เบ็น)

        I think you understand what I mean. In the Catholic Church, we have designated readings (Old Testament or New Testament, and then the Gospel) each day at Mass (Divine Liturgy). It’s a lectionary.

        But since this even varies within the Catholic Church, I normally try to specify “in the Latin Rite [of the Catholic Church]” (i.e., not one of the Eastern Churches, which have different lectionaries/liturgical readings). Here, I apparently forgot. Perhaps context would have helped! =)

        Reply
        1. sandyfaithking Avatar
          sandyfaithking

          No, I really am that ignorant! I grew up within a UK non-conformist church and ended up as an adult with the baptists, who are akin to anabaptists. There is no lectionary, no liturgy. When my baptist forebears sought a more ‘real’ church, they threw out tradition. Of course they only ended up making different traditions and I have come to the conclusion that they threw out the baby with the bathwater, hence my delight in reading The Little Way of Lent, which is written by a Catholic priest :-)

          Reply
          1. Ben (เบ็น) Avatar
            Ben (เบ็น)

            =)

            My parents and my family on my mother’s side are Baptists (perhaps slightly different in Canada, where I’m from, than in the UK). I grew up in this tradition, but I converted to the Catholic Church. I have had experiences and feelings of a discovery of liturgy, too — although everyone’s experiences and feelings are very unique, of course. Happy to know about your experiences, too. I haven’t read the book you’re reading. For my own part, I discovered liturgy through the Anglican Church first. ^_^

            Reply

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