Forgiving

Sisters and brothers in Christ, Jesus teaches us a hard lesson about forgiveness in today's Gospel, saying: "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."

This should mind us of the "Our Father" Prayer (or the "Lord's Prayer") that we recite at Mass, asking God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". Sometimes, we recite a prayer from memorial but do not take the time to hear the words that we are speaking. More importantly, we do not allow the words of the prayer to penetrate our soul and dwell in our hearts and transform us into the person that God created us to be - to love others as God loves us, which includes forgiving others.

Forgiveness is hard, especially if we are hurt by a loved one. The sense of betrayal, the pain inflicted, and the feeling of abandonment are all visceral things that veil that light of Christ in our hearts. Only by the grace of God can we forgive but, when we do forgive, it frees us to love as God loves. This is one of the great lessons in the novel, "The Father's Son", by Catholic author Jim Sano (a novel that my Exodus90 brothers and I have been reading for our faith-sharing small group).

 . . .

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.