Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“If my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:21-19:1

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.

Today’s gospel reading is brings forth the whole notion of forgiveness and being contrite. We are challenged with the notion of limited forgiveness. Peter asks the simple question, “how often must I forgive? Peter guesses seven times. But Jesus responds, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Basically, Jesus is telling Peter that there is no limit to the amount of forgiveness we should have for others. Our forgiveness should be to others should be limitless. There is no specific number of times we should forgive somebody. The servant begs the master for forgiveness and out of his kindness, the master forgives the debt seeing the contriteness of his heart. However, the servant did not have the same merciful heart and could not forgive one of his own. How can we expect forgiveness from God if we cannot give forgiveness to those who trespass against us. When we turn to God to ask him to remove the greatest burdens of our sins, we must also ask for the strength to forgive those who trespassed against us. How can we ask to have these burdens removed if we cannot forgive our fellow man for the sins he has committed against us. The parable tells us that we must always forgive others, no matter what and we must do it whole heartedly. If necessary we must force ourselves to forgive those that offend us from the very moment the sin occurs. The offense that they commit against you is nothing compared to what God has sacrificed to forgive us.

So why is forgiveness an important virtue for us to develop. If we do not forgive, then that trespass can turn into resentment and hatred. Hatred builds inside our soul and eats away at our ability to love. Resentment forms hatred and hatred destroys our capacity to love. To forgive our fellow brother or sister is to love them as Christ loved us. Christ was willing to be crucified for our sins. What are you willing to do for the sins of others? How much better would the world be today if we could find forgiveness in our hearts? Forgiveness leads to peace and peace leads to a world centered on love and compassion.

A Simple Prayer

Lord, you are so kind and merciful.

You forgive me for my sins.

Give me the grace to be equally kind and merciful.

Free me from the resentment and jealousy.

Fill my heart with the compassion to forgive my fellow man.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon