Reading 1
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.
Gospel
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
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 your brother from your heart.”
Reflection
Sacred Scripture is consistent in its message that, when we face judgment at the end of our lives, God will treat us the same way we treat those who offend us. Both our first reading and the Gospel for today underline this teaching, a compelling reminder to show others the ceaseless and immediate forgiveness that we would hope to receive ourselves.
In the Gospel, Jesus illustrates this point with a parable, highlighting the hypocrisy of a debtor who was unrelenting toward a fellow servant despite receiving mercy from the master himself. We may assume that we’d never be guilty of such a blatant and ironic wrong, but we commit the same offense in subtle ways all the time.
We have all been recipients of unfathomable mercy. Christ gave up His very life for our sins, and He continues to forgive every sin for which we seek His mercy. Yet, how often do we harbor resentment in our own hearts? Our situations may not be as obvious as the parable, but all the hurts of our daily life demand the same mercy from us.
It’s easy to promise mercy in the abstract, but are we actually forgiving others in the concrete? Perhaps we say we believe in forgiveness, but in practice, we feel justified in holding a grudge about a coworker’s cruel joke. Maybe we pray “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and all the while resent a loved one for their infidelity. Jesus readily forgives our sins of gossip. He forgives us when we betray Him. He died for us, even though we did nothing to deserve it. Can we not show others even a fraction of this same mercy we have received?
Seven is the symbolic number of perfection and completeness in the Bible. When Jesus calls us to forgive not just seven but seventy-seven times, He is not merely upping the number, but rather, emphasizing the number of perfection, conveying that we should forgive always and completely.
This call is a demanding one. Only with the grace of the all-merciful God could we hope to forgive perfectly. Today, let us examine our consciences. What are the real, concrete hurts in our lives that we need to forgive? May Our Lord help us to let go of those offenses, and may He forgive us our own many sins.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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