Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
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.”
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Reflection:
Why is it that many of us are not able to forgive? This is
for the reason that we think highly of ourselves and we think that we are
superior than the person who sinned against us. Unforgiveness also emanates
from our arrogance, pride and lack of humility. Unforgiveness is also a sign
that we love ourselves more than we love Jesus.
If we truly love Jesus and if we really are humble we would
be forgiving no matter how deep the wound that had been inflicted upon us. For
example, if a wayward spouse would ask for forgiveness we would think deeply
upon it and would eventually forgive.
If we continue to harbor hatred and unforgiveness in our hearts, we are only creating an invisible prison cell within ourselves—a prison cell that perpetually punishes and enslaves us.
In the gospel, Peter asked Jesus: “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 (Matthew
18:21-22). This simply means that forgiveness should be never-ending or limitless.
Those who are humble, compassionate and those who deeply
love Jesus are the only ones capable of unlimited forgiveness. Are you
forgiving? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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