A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 18:21–19:1
(Glory to you O Lord!)
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 the fellow servant 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 his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
The Gospel of the Lord (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!).
Reflection: Forgive from the heart
Our Lord Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel on what will happen to us if we do not learn to forgive from the heart. This can be a difficult task, but there is hope of success. Here is a true story of forgiveness.
Georges St. Pierre was a thin little boy when an older and bigger classmate kept bullying him on the school bus. He did not complain about the weekly bullying he received, but he returned home one day with a swollen eye that really worried his parents forcing him to reveal what happened. His parents now understood the source of his depression and bad grades. His father spoke with the bully’s father to talk to his son, however, it did not work. The bullying continued. Georges took Karate lessons to learn to defend himself. He began fighting back and lost every time, and the bully got tired of picking on him and moved on to look for someone else.
The years go by and Georges kept on training. He later became a professional fighter in mixed martial arts. He became very successful and a humble UFC icon. Georges was the nicest guy in the sport, and he won 9 championships before retiring.
One day as he was driving around doing errands, someone knocks on his car window to ask if he had spare change. It was the bully. The bully recognized Georges right away and his face turned pale. Georges parks his car and he had a conversation with the man. They shared about life, how things were going, and he learned that the bully had fallen on hard times … without a job and experiencing homelessness. The tables had turned, and there was a time when he wanted nothing more than to beat this guy, however… Georges decided to give him $100 and said, “You are full of potential. Go, man. Do well in your life. You deserve more than this”.
About a year later while visiting his parents, his dad shared that a man came to visit wanting to thank Georges for encouraging him, and for giving him the money. The man also let them know that he now had a secure and stable job and Georges encouragement changed his life. He also learned from his father that on that day he told the father of the bully to talk to his son, he noticed that the bully’s father was drinking hard liquor, and he later heard the bully crying out and being beat up by the bully’s father. Georges then understood what the man experienced and only learned to communicate through aggression while they were young.
Most of us may have met a person in our own lives who was, or is difficult to love similar to the treatment that Georges experienced. Bullying whether physical or verbal, or on social media is unfortunately something learned from a young age from either the environment they grew up in, or the influences a person may choose to follow from their peers or even through unfiltered negative comments on social media, which can perpetuate through adulthood if the pattern is not changed for the good.
As followers of our Lord Jesus, we are encouraged to learn to truly forgive and have mercy in our hearts. Our Lord knows what we have been through, and what we are currently going through.
The road to forgiveness and healing is not going to be easy and the memories will remain, however we can begin by being grateful for our blessings, then pray for our faith to be strengthened, and to be granted hearts of mercy and understanding.
With Jesus’ help, we can learn to forgive from our hearts which will then lead to our own healing to have hearts of mercy and love for one another.
Action for the Day:
In silent prayer, share our gratitude to our Lord Jesus for all our blessings. Lift up the name of all the ones who are difficult to love and forgive. Lord Jesus, please strengthen our faith, grant us the grace of forgiving hearts and continue to heals us so that we can share your mercy and love to all. We ask this in Your most holy name, Amen.
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