Reflections for the Working Soul: Forgiveness--the road to peace

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Forgiveness--the road to peace

RWS 773 September 17, 2017, 24^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35

“…how often must I forgive?... Jesus answered, Í say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’”

Christian forgiveness

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

What is the difference between Christian forgiveness and other kinds of forgiveness? For one, it is given so many times to the same offender, “seventy-seven times”, if one takes literally what Jesus said. Secondly, from what Jesus did, dying on the Cross forgiving everyone, He teaches a forgiveness which no human can give, but, which only God, the divine, can give. For any human to forgive as God does, he must be one with the Divine, fully imbued with God’s Spirit. Jesus makes this possible to anyone who believes in Him and accepts Him totally in life.

Situations in our life that need forgiveness of others challenge us to be simply human in forgiving, or to be divine. Our daily activities, including our work, could often times fill our life with overwhelming human considerations which could limit our feelings of forgiveness to others. We find it difficult to let go of a mistake of our co-workers when we know that it is done with no valid and/or reasonable excuses. We would give at most two warnings to offending subordinates, who will surely get the sanctions on the third offence. Mostly at the workplace, only a slight margin of error is allowed, if an error is at all considered. Work performance and the corresponding rewards or compensation is measured also according to incidences of failures—the fewer, the better. Human, material and monetary considerations are the important determinants for judging and giving the corresponding measure for error, failure or offense. When a worker hurts the other or the company, through his performance or his attitudes and behavior, he is considered a liability which has to be taken away. Christian forgiveness is a financial liability in business; but it is a value that everyone needs to acquire in life.

Forgiving—the door to His peace

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

Sometimes a person cannot forgive even once, so how can he be persuaded to forgive as many as 77 times? And yet, our Lord asks for no less. Why so strict, people ask. Forgiveness seems to be getting too obsolete a value nowadays. When it’s considered cool to get even, people who prefer to follow Christ and forgive are seen as weaklings. “They have no choice but to forgive because they can’t fight,” they are unfairly judged.

In one workplace alone, two women sit side by side but their attitudes towards personal offenses are at the opposite end of the pole. Merlyn cannot forgive the father of her granddaughter for abandoning her daughter in her pregnancy; even though she finds so much joy in her apo, she cannot forgive and accept its “stupid father”. On the other hand, there’s Carla whose husband of 25 years ran away with a woman younger than their firstborn—and yet Carla forgives him and makes peace with her husband’s second family. The irony of it is, both women are devout churchgoers, so how come one can forgive while the other can not?

The reason behind the difference in outlook may be a mystery to their co-workers but one thing the latter are sure of is: Carla is easier to work with than Merlyn. Which leads us to the thought that when the Lord asks us to forgive not just seven but 77 times, He is actually opening the door for us to His peace—that lightness of being that overcomes a person who, humbled by God’s love, has discovered how easy it is to forgive.

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What they say about 'Reflections for the Working Soul', the book

Day in and out, the Inquirer brims with news. That's the Inquirer's strength: A frenzy of in-your-face news daily. Almost always the bad news. Then Reflections for the Working Soul happened every Sunday. Suddenly, we had (and have) an oasis of Good News. For reflection. For serenity. Not up there in the clouds. But right here in the dailiness of living and working with real people some of whom can really get on one’s nerves.

Thanks to Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas and Teresa R. Tunay. In three paragraphs or less, they offer a way and an attitude in the workplace not just for Sundays but for my day-to-day lifestyle to keep in touch with what works in relationships, including people one can barely stand working with. They sort out for me what’s important and really counts in life and living in the workplace as a microcosm of the real world.

So, I look forward eagerly to reading the Good News bylined by the bishop and Tunay. Because they speak to me personally about how to be most effective and productive at work while at the same time staying connected to the Good News, and thus staying in a state of serenity and grace. Providentially, their names—Precioso and Tunay (precious and true)—sum up their contributions to the development of the Inquirer as an instrument and institution of the Good News of the Lord.

—Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc
Editor-in-Chief, Philippine Daily Inquirer

From Bishop Rolly Tria Tirona:

Giving flesh and bones to our Christian faith has always been the challenge for every Christian. Translating belief in Christ into Christ-like action is extremely demanded in market and work places. Christian work ethics is the fruit of inspiration and not of pure legislation.

Reflections for the Working Soul, a weekly column of Ms Teresa Tunay and Bishop Precioso Cantillas in a newspaper section catering primarily to people at work, provides that inspiration for the many working people desirous to integrate their belief with their work.

These joint reflections make the Gospel teachings so reachable to busy people. Their insights help working people understand that they do matter in the transformation of our society and of our country. In their reflections, they show that work can lead to contemplation, while contemplation sanctifies and elevates their work to the heart of God.

I salute and congratulate Ms. Teresa Tunay and Bishop Precioso Cantillas for being the instruments of the Holy Spirit to warm and lift up the spirit of our working people.

Most Rev. Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD
Bishop Prelate of Infanta
15 April 2007, Divine Mercy Sunday

Carmelite priest Junjun Agruda says:

In the mountains, geologists and miners use the elegant term "angle of repose" to describe the precise angle at which a boulder will rest on the side of a hill, rather than tumble downward. I think of that image as the point at which prayer and action meet. Every so often one of those boulders breaks loose, releasing potential energy in a crashing rockslide that permanently alters the landscape.

The creative ways in which Prayer and earthiness are wedded in these Relfections for the Working Soul forge a spirituality that makes room for piety as well as for activism. Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay have grasped the nature of Prayer as partnership with God’s activity on earth. These reflections bring us to that "angle of repose", the place where contemplation and prayerful action meet. Thus in the process, the act of Prayer emboldens us to join the work of transforming the world into a place where the Father’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

—Fr. Mariano Agruda III, OCD
Provincial Superior,
Order of Discalced Carmelites, Philippines

Bishop Stude comments:

Two beautiful minds, talented persons very much respected, committed and sefless in their respective works, have gifted us with an inspiring and interesting book, Reflections for the Working Soul. The skillful authors—Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay—make the Sunday Gospels more applicable, much alive in the work world. The inspiring book enhances spirituality in the workplace and imparts refreshing reflections which encourage and challenge one to make the workplace a ‘good soil’ (Mark 4,8) and to ‘bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty,and some one hundred’ (Mark 4,20).

Reading Reflections for the Working Soul is to know that the words of its gifted authors are their works, and their works are their witnessing for Jesus and His Gospels. With our works and in our places, Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay take and turn us to ‘see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5,16).

—Monsignor Ruperto Cruz Santos
Bishop of Balanga

From Monsignor Hernando Coronel:

The teamwork between Bishop Cantillas and Teresa Tunay is the application of the Second Vatican Council teaching regarding the transformation of society. A cleric and a layperson combined their personal insights to give light on the values needed in the workplace. Indeed, they have witnessed against a rat race world, a dog-eat-dog milieau, a corporate atmosphere of power and control. Their spirituality of the workplace heralds the values of the Gospel in the business setting, that it is important to pray before deciding, to seek God’s will before acting in the commercial sphere. Theirs is an advocating of building a faith community in the workplace where Christian principles reign and are lived out.

—Monsignor Hernando Coronel
Archdiocese of Manila

Fr. Mario Baclig, SDB, says:

If once we had worker-priests, now we have a genuine worker-bishop. And this book is proof of this. Bishop Cantillas is himself a worker; he grew up in Don Bosco Cebu getting his hands soiled and greasy in the machine shop. When he was nominated bishop, he had all set and ready a pastor’s staff that he had been fabricating for someone else. And now, a published compilation of his thoughts for workers. This is a precious gift for today’s workers, from a worker-bishop!

Teresa Tunay is his partner in this endeavor. She comes with her unique journalistic talent and creativity. But more than that, she brings in a rare sensitivity to the simple and often unnoticed lives of ordinary workers. Her love and concern for young workers has kept the Blue Collar magazine going despite all odds. I cannot wait to get hold of this book. How I wish that workers worldwide would have a similar privilege!

—Fr. Mario Baclig, SDB
Salesiana Publishers

From the late Fr. James Reuter, SJ:

The secret of doing anything well is to love what you are doing —to enjoy your job. If, when you wake each morning, you are eager to meet the challenge of this day; if your mind is filled with it, joyfully, when you are brushing your teeth, when you are in the shower, when you are drinking your coffee. . . . . .your work will be a smash! What these 'Reflections' do is to remind you that your work is an apostolate. . . you are serving the children of God. You might not have silver and gold, but what you have you give—yourself! And that is the most beautiful gift of all. This little book makes you realize that you are serving God. . . every day, every hour, every moment. . . . in the market place. It is worth reading—one set of reflections every day. It will fill your life with love. You will go to work smiling.

—Fr. James Reuter, SJ
Director, National Office on Mass Media for the Catholic Church in the Philippines