"Always tend to think well of
other people. Give them credit, at least, for their good intentions. Never
throw back into their faces wrong already forgiven. Do good to all, harm to no
one." – St. John Bosco
Gospel text (Mt 18,21—19,1):
Peter asked Jesus, «Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my
brother or sister? Seven times?». Jesus answered, «No, not seven times, but
seventy-seven times. This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A king
decided to settle the accounts of his servants. Among the first was one who owed
him ten thousand gold coins. As the man could not repay the debt, the king
commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, children and all his goods
in payment. The official threw himself at the feet of the king and said, ‘Give
me time, and I will pay you back everything’. The king took pity on him and not
only set him free but even canceled his debt.
»This official then left the
king's presence and he met one of his companions who owed him a hundred pieces
of silver. He grabbed him by the neck and almost strangled him, shouting, ‘Pay
me what you owe!’. His companion threw himself at his feet and asked him, ‘Give
me time, and I will pay everything’. The other did not agree, but sent him to
prison until he had paid all his debt. His companions saw what happened. They
were indignant and so they went and reported everything to their lord. Then the
lord summoned his official and said, ‘Wicked servant, I forgave you all that
you owed when you begged me to do so. Weren't you bound to have pity on your
companion as I had pity on you?’. The lord was now angry, so he handed his
servant over to be punished, until he had paid his whole debt». Jesus added,
«So will my heavenly Father do with you unless each of you sincerely forgive
your brother or sister».
When Jesus had finished this teaching, He left
Galilee and arrived at the border of Judea, on the other side of the Jordan
River.
Payback is a popular thing. If
someone wrongs me, I sometimes get the feeling that I need to wrong them back
or take it out on someone else. However, other times, I do like giving
payback. If someone buys me a drink or takes me to dinner I feel the duty
and necessity to pay them back what they have given me. If they refuse
the offer to pay me back, I pay it forward and buy someone else the next round
or take another friend to dinner.
"We,
for our part, love because He first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19), and we forgive
because the Lord first forgave us.
Our being forgiven by God is the
source of our forgiving others. The Lord says to each of us: "I had pity
on you" (see Mt 18:33). When the older brother of the prodigal son focused
on how much better he had been than his younger brother, the older brother
refused to forgive and thereby showed that he too was a prodigal son (Lk
15:29ff). When we focus on the injustices done to us, we will not accept the
grace to forgive. However, when we "look on Him Whom [we] have pierced"
(Jn 19:37) and tremble in thanksgiving at the awesome forgiveness the Crucified
has given us, the forgiveness that has come to us will go through
us even to our worst enemies.
Alexander Pope said "To err is
human; to forgive is divine." Therefore, God's forgiveness for us is the
only source of forgiveness. This source of forgiveness is inexhaustible. From
Jesus, we can forgive seventy times seven times — indefinitely times
indefinitely (Mt 18:22).
The Gospel challenge for the
day: Say “I’m sorry” and Pay it Forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment