HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT.
THEME: FORGIVENESS
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
St. Michael the Archangel Parish
Diocese of Novaliches
Mt 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 him 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 your brother from your heart.”
RELATED: HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT
One of the petitions in the prayer taught by the Lord himself is about forgiveness: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
In other words, God’s forgiveness requires our willingness to forgive those who have offended us: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
Peter asks how many times he should forgive another and offers what he thinks as a very generous seven times. But Jesus declares: “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” This means our readiness to forgive should be without limit.
This may sound so unrealistic to most of us. Are we going to allow a person to continually hurt and offend us? Is the Lord telling us to be masochists? By no means. Rather, this is the way to bring back peace, healing and unity among us all.
This teaching of the Lord is based on how God deals with us sinners: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. (Mt 5:44-45)
The best way to express our love of enemies is through forgiveness. And Jesus is simply telling that this is what we should do if we really want be known as God’s children: “So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48)
In narrating the parable of the unforgiving servant, the Lord is insisting on the indispensable requirement of God’s forgiveness: our willingness to forgive others. As indicated in the parable, there is obviously no proportion between the offence of our sins against God and those done to us by others. How can God forgive us of our grievous and multiple sins when we are not even willing to forgive the petty offenses of others?
In truth, forgiveness benefits more the forgiver than the forgiven. The one who forgives learns to let go of his ill feelings and resentments and he is able to recover his inner peace and physical health. In forgiving, he becomes the instrument of peace, reconciliation and conversion. And most especially, he is able to follow more closely the example of the Lord Himself and become a true child of our loving and forgiving Heavenly Father.
Fr. Mike Lagrimas
St. Michael the Archangel Parish
Diocese of Novaliches
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