DAILY GRACE
August 13, 2020, Thursday of the 19th Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-19:1
Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘. . . how often should I forgive? . . . ?
While studying in law school, I met a student who was non-religious. He said he did not subscribe to any faith and did not believe in God whatsoever. This student and I got to be good friends and in one of our conversations he related how he had been offended by someone. As we talked about what happened and his reactions to it, something became abundantly clear: he had no intention of forgiving the person who had slighted him. He could not even conceive of forgiving that individual. It almost appeared that the concept of forgiveness was foreign to him. I guess he was destined to be a hard-charging litigation attorney!
Forgiveness is one of the radical concepts of Christianity. It’s not that we Christians can easily forgive hurts and wrongdoing, especially when they affect us personally. However, we know that forgiveness is something that we should do, because we have been forgiven in Christ. We also know that while forgiveness of others and letting go of resentment can be difficult for us, it becomes possible through the gift of grace that Christ won for us by his teaching, example, suffering, death, and resurrection.
In today’s parable, Jesus tells the story of a man who is forgiven a large debt, and then refuses to forgive another man for a much smaller debt. As we travel through our earthly existence, we bump into one another and cause, or experience, injustice, anger, harsh words and judgments, physical harm, and many other acts and expressions of hostility and pain. Our deeply wounded selves tend to hold on to hurt and resentment. But forgiving and letting go offer unparalleled psychological and spiritual freedom. In a sense, forgiveness can be more important for the injured person than the one who caused the injury. To pardon is to release a cumbersome weight that keeps us imprisoned; to pardon is a divine gift that can restore our distressed and bitter hearts to serenity and joy.
Forgiveness is a process. It may be offered easily, but it may also take us a long time to arrive at the point of pardoning those who wronged us. Sometimes we may only be capable of praying for the person, asking the Divine Master to forgive in our stead until we find in our hearts the freedom of forgiveness.
Prayer
Lord, when I do not want to forgive a person who hurt me, my distorted thinking likes to believe that I am punishing that person. But in reality, holding on to grievances hurts me even more. Give me, Lord, the grace to forgive. And until such time comes and I experience the freedom of forgiveness, I ask you to forgive in my stead.
Contemplation
“Our Father, who art in heaven . . . forgive us our trespasses/debts/sins as we forgive those who wrong us.”