The Gospel Proclamation Then Peter came to Jesus and asked “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” “No. Not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants’ accounts. He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of pounds. The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go. “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow-servant who owed him a few pounds. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. His fellow-servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. So he called the servant in, ‘You worthless slave!’ he said, ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. You should have had mercy on your fellow-servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount. And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Gaze on our sonship (Psalm 25: 4-9) Teach me your ways, O Lord; make them known to me. Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you. Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love which you have shown from long ago, forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord! Because the Lord is righteous and good, he teaches sinners the path they should follow. He leads the humble in the right way and teaches them his will.
Prayerful Awareness Today’s Gospel which is self explanatory reinforces the importance of our having a forgiving spirit in order to be filled by the grace of our merciful Abba Father. In the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us”. And so in order to experience forgiveness for our sins we need to forgive those who sin against us. Sin is everything that keeps us from responding to Abba Father’s love which also hinder loving fellowship amongst humanity, and in this context the sum total of our sinfulness against God and man can be likened to the debt of millions of pounds, and the hurt that an individual has done us can be likened to the debt of a few pounds, and in our dealings with fellow human beings do we not act like the wicked servant! Yet God forgives us, and hence let us forgive our brother! Amen
