The Gospel according to Matthew (18:21-35)
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
Reflection:
Today’s Gospel gives us a stark reminder of the value placed upon forgiveness by Jesus. It is at the heart of what we focus on this Lenten season. We human beings tend to be a touchy lot, right? I mean, it began all the way back with Cain and Abel, didn’t it? Cain was jealous over God approving Abel’s offering and not his own. And, I suppose we can even go back a bit further where Adam and Eve didn’t trust that God had what was best for them in mind, so they listened to the serpent, rather than remember that loving Creator’s guidance.
Those scenes highlight the power sin has over the human family. I believe that we all do want to do good, but those impulses that pull us away cause us to inflict pain on others by our words and by our actions. When another does that to us, the human response would be to lash out, to “settle the score”, but as Jesus highlights in the parable today, it is not to be so among us, His disciples of our own time.
But, it’s hard, right? I know in my own experience that any “good” feeling I may have for lashing out at someone who has hurt me does not last very long at all. Instead, I feel guilty for not loving after the model of Jesus. That’s maybe the hardest inclination to master as a follower of Jesus. And, I think that is why we have this opportunity every year to try to push it back a little more. Let us remember that we don’t fight that sinful side on our own – Jesus Himself, through His Holy Spirit, fights right along with us and has the power to vanquish that evil from our hearts and from our lives. We just have to ask Him to do that, and then trust that He will live up to His word, because He will!
Action for the Day:
Is there someone who you need to forgive today? In the quiet of your heart, ask Jesus to give you the ability to forgive that person and to desire to fully reconcile with him or her, and then, take that opportunity to forgive. And, don’t worry about the math! God will help you to forgive and forgive, even as He forgives you, too! I hope you don’t think me lazy, but I can’t help but use the humorous math meme of today’s Gospel.. I hope it gives you a chuckle even as it gives one to me!
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LOL! Appreciate the math meme 🙂