Saint Joan of the Cross
Forgive and You will be Forgiven.
The end of the community or ecclesial discourse of Matthew teaches us today another very important aspect of living in peace with one another as well as the whole Church. After being approached by Peter and being asked how many times we should forgive, Jesus responds seventy-seven times. He later tells a parable of a wicked servant who was forgiven the huge debt he owed his master and in turn the servant could not forgive the fellow servant a small debt. When his master heard of this, it made his master withdraw the forgiveness from him and then put him in prison.
Brethren, today's Gospel teaches us that if we want to be forgiven, then we must also be ready to forgive others, because you cannot receive what you are not willing to give away. Perhaps that doesn’t make sense at first, but it’s a very real fact of spiritual life. If you want mercy, you must give mercy away. If you want forgiveness, you must offer forgiveness. But if you want harsh judgement and condemnation, then go ahead and offer harsh judgement and condemnation. Jesus will answer that act in kind and severity. Jesus is serious about this, He is ready to forgive us every time we come to him, but we must also be able to forgive others in return, otherwise we will not be forgiven.
This parable concludes the theme that forgiveness is the life’s-blood of any Christian community. We cannot live together without upsetting one another, unwittingly, or even deliberately. So, forgiveness is the vital step. This stems from the fact that God has forgiven us much. No offence our neighbour can do to us can compare with our own personal debt to God for offending him! We have been forgiven an enormous debt we could not repay on our own. That is why the Father in heaven sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who freely and willingly gave up his life for our sake to ransom us from slavery to sin, Satan, and death. Paul the Apostle states, "you were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 7:23 ) and that price was Jesus' death on the cross. Through the shedding of his blood on the cross, Jesus not only brought forgiveness and pardon for our offences, but release from our captivity to Satan and bondage to sin. We have been forgiven an enormous debt which we could never possibly repay. We owe God a debt of gratitude for the mercy and grace he has given us in his Son, Jesus Christ.
If God has shown mercy to us in granting us pardon for our sins, then we, in turn, must show mercy and forgiveness towards every person who has offended us. The willingness to forgive those who offend us is a sacred duty. If we expect God to pardon us and show us his mercy when we sin and disobey his commandments, then we must be willing to let go of any resentment, grievance, or ill-will we feel towards our neighbour. Jesus teaches us to pray daily for the grace and strength to forgive others in the same measure in which God has forgiven us (Matthew 6:12,14-15). If we do not show mercy and forgiveness to our fellow human beings, how can we expect God to forgive us in turn? The Apostle James says that "judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy" (James 2:13).
Reflect today on your willingness to forgive as many times as possible so that you will also be forgiven as many times as possible. Pray that you will not be one like that wicked servant but always do to others what you would like to be done unto you.
Let us Pray.
May your Holy Spirit always guide your church and every individual to live in peace through having mercy and forgiving each other as you always forgive us. Amen.
Be blessed.
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