Overlook Faults

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sirach 27:30-28:7

Wrath and anger are hateful things,

yet the sinner hugs them tight.

The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,

for he remembers their sins in detail.

Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;

then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.

Could anyone nourish anger against another

and expect healing from the LORD?

Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,

can he seek pardon for his own sins?

If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,

who will forgive his sins?

Remember your last days, set enmity aside;

remember death and decay, and cease from sin!

Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;

remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

Sirach is a summation of the Israelite wisdom tradition after the convergence of Jewish piety and Greek philosophy that took place in the centuries immediately before Jesus’ birth. Similar to Proverbs before it, Sirach is a large anthology of practical knowledge for successful living, things that more often than not hold true in life. Its author, Jesus ben Sira, arranged the material into poems, moral exhortations, and wise sayings that often sound very similar to the things that Jesus Christ would soon say. Not surprisingly, the early Church used this book extensively in moral catechesis, often calling it “Ecclesiasticus” or “the Church book.” 

This week’s reading could function as a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [...] For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:12-15). Sirach says it four different ways: If we will not forgive others, we have no reason to expect healing, pardon, or forgiveness ourselves. If we cannot “forget” the faults of others, we should expect the Lord to remember our “sins in detail.” If we would have our own faults overlooked, we must learn to overlook the faults of others. This imperative is stressed even further by the final line of the reading which points out that overlooking faults is not a nice ethical suggestion but an obligation of covenant faithfulness. 

The “faults” we are to overlook could more accurately be translated as “ignorance.” It refers to wrongs done involuntarily or without knowing they were wrong. How easy is it to “hug them tight”! Often it is the littlest things that drive us crazy in a spouse, a child, a coworker, or a neighbor. When we hold on to these annoyances, we can even imagine scenarios where they are planned to drive us nuts. These are the things that the Lord commands us to overlook in the same way that we hope others will overlook our idiosyncrasies. 

So how do we do this? How do we keep a proper perspective so we can forgive in the way we want to be forgiven and overlook the things we would like others to overlook in us? The Spirit suggests a spiritual practice known as memento mori, remembering death. Through the regular and prayerful pondering of death, it becomes easier to keep a divine perspective. If I constantly remember that one day, perhaps sooner than I would like, I will stand before the judgment seat of God, I might just be more patient with and forgiving of others. Many saints throughout history kept skulls on their nightstands or desks to remind them of their mortality for this exact purpose. As we slide further into fall and more and more of Halloween shows up all around us, the Lord invites us to “remember death and decay, and cease from sin!”