Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Intention: For all those who recently have suffered the loss of a loved one, that God’s comfort and healing may find and sustain them.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 18:21-35
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.”
Reflection
There is a story from the writings of the Desert Fathers in which a group of monks come to their elder with a question: “Tell us, when we see brothers dozing during the sacred office, should we pinch them so they will stay awake?” The old man said to them, “Actually, if I saw a brother sleeping, I would put his head on my knees and let him rest.”
Many of us struggle with Jesus’ call to unconditional forgiveness. One reason is that we also struggle with the challenge of letting go of the impulse to control. In the Desert Father’s story, the monks were seeking permission to act as each others’ conscience. In Matthew’s Gospel, Peter was searching for how best to use forgiveness to establish his own moral superiority among the disciples. Both times, the response was to remind them that in the midst of human brokenness we are called not to judgement but to compassion.
The spirit of forgiveness is one of humility. We are asked to see others’ flaws first as reminders of our own, and then as opportunities to walk with one another in a journey of repentance and healing. Forgiveness is for both the forgiven and the forgiver. It enables us to move forward in hope and creativity by freeing us from the need to hold hurts and mistakes so tightly that they come to define us. Through forgiveness, we are able to strengthen each other’s ability to withstand and respond to pain without diminishing our capacity for goodness and love. Forgiveness builds community, and community reveals God’s kingdom.
Author Paul Boese has suggested, “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” Lent is a good time to renew in ourselves the conviction that our light must always overcome our darkness. To both seek and accept reconciliation is to embrace the truth that our need for conversion is constant. To grow in God’s grace we must be humble and we must rejoice in our need for one another.
Prayer
Eternal Father, Jesus called us to always treat others as we wish to be treated. Lead us to those that we have hurt or have hurt us. Deliver us all from hatred, cruelty, and revenge, and enable us to forgive and be forgiven, and to live reconciled to one another and to you. Grant that we will be persons of strength and courage who stand for truth and integrity, especially when it would be easier for us to walk away. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.