TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

“¿Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?”

Mt. 18, 21-35

Rev. Alexander Diaz

This Sunday’s gospel is challenging and to a certain extent, hard to apply to our own lives, because it touches one of the most vulnerable and difficult parts to understand.  To forgive is not easy, because it means, closing a wound without asking for an explanation. Forgiveness is one of the most crazy inventions of God, it is difficult to understand, accept and apply. 

Peter had a very hard time understanding it and in order to feel better, he goes to the Teacher and asked, in order to clarify his confusion: “¿Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?   ¿As many as seven times?”  Jesus answered:  “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven time” (Mt. 18,21-22)

In other words, always.  It will be necessary a great interior change, in order for this forgiveness to take place.  First to be able to understand it.  Then, to apply it even in circumstances where it is natural and fair to feel hate and vengeance.  And afterwards, to ask the strength to live above contradictory feelings. 

To love the one who loves us it’s common and very easy to carry on, it is to do good to whomever does us good, every human being does that, more or less. But the follower of Christ has to live a more superior love.  He must love also when he is insulted and persecuted. He must forgive, a very difficult element to accept because our fragile human nature will not accept it.  

When Peter talks about seven times, is using the number of spiritual perfection.  Jesus answered seventy times seven, which means that we are to forgive all the time, always, as long as the person who offends you is in a disposition of being forgiven.  Jesus speaks to us in an explicit way, He tells us that we are not to keep an account of how many times we have forgiven. It does not pay to keep an account of how many times we have been insulted or offended. 

What is  gained by doing that?  What we can gain is to live a bitter existence, to sink deeper in our hateful misery, our desperation and bitterness. If God should keep count of our offenses, we all will be lost, because we offend Him constantly and excessively.  Therefore, we should erase from our memory the many times we have forgiven and the many times we have been offended or insulted. 

Mother Theresa used to say: “To forgive is a decision, not a feeling, because when we forgive we don’t feel the offense anymore, we don’t feel any resentment. Forgive because by forgiving your soul will be at peace and the soul of the one who insulted you will be at peace also.” To forgive from the heart is a huge challenge that man has. To forgive as we are forgiven. Only the one who realizes what sin really is, an offense to God; who sees sin as an authentic mystery of iniquety,  can perceive the greatness of God, who forgives and learns the difficult and divine way to love.

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” we pray daily, probably many times during the day.  The Lord awaits this generosity that will make us look like Him.  Because if you forgive others their trespasses, also your celestial Father will forgive you. 

This disposition is part of the norm frequently confirmed by our Lord throughout the entire gospel.  Absolve and you will be absolved.  Give and it shall be given to you. The measure you use for others is the same one that will be used for you.  

Jesus invites us to acquire the habit to forgive as God forgives us. The Lord came to give heart to human forgiveness, from there, from the heart, is from the place where we will understand the parable that we have just heard.   In order to forgive, we should have in mind certain elements:

     - To forgive and be merciful towards the one who offended or insulted us

     - To forgive ourselves

     - We are a reflection of God’s forgiveness for our brothers and sister and for ourselves.

For Christian forgiveness it is important to be conscious that we are forgiven by God, since forgiveness really acquire real  meaning when you see it through the eye of God and from His divine dimension, without it, it turns to be a simple false and without meaning. 

Only the one who forgives his fellow-man can await the forgiveness of God, this is what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, hence every sin we commit against Him, is a huge fault.   To summarize, we have to forgive from our hearts.  God looks at the heart, where sin forges,  it is also where forgiveness should be forge.

AMEN!!