Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 11, 2016 - Thursday in the 19th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 12:1-2 and Matt 18:21-19]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." [Matthew]
AUGUST 11 ST. CLARE [foundress of the Poor Clare Franciscan nuns]
Forgiveness is a BIG thing in Christian life and it has been BIG since the very beginning. Peter's question to Jesus comes on the heels of Jesus' teaching about the process of forgiveness in the community [Matthew 18:15-17]. Clearly Peter wants to know how often one has to go through forgiveness. Jesus answers as many times as there is something to forgive. Earlier in this same gospel in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the disciples that forgiveness and reconciliation are so important that if one comes to the temple with an offering and recalls that one has a grievance against another, the gift should be laid aside and forgiveness and reconciliation take place first. [Matthew 5:23-24] Then, in teaching the disciples to pray, in what we call the "Our Father," Jesus includes the words, "Forgive us our trespasses, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US!" [my emphasis, of course!] and follows the prayer immediately with an underlining by saying that if we do not forgive others, we cannot expect God to forgive us! [Matthew 6:9-15] Then, to return to today's gospel scripture, at the very end of the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus repeats the command to forgive.
We know and recognize this but we have a tough time doing it. My own personal experience and the experience of hearing confessions for more than 45 years tells me this. I have mentioned more than once in these reflections the Examination of Conscience that I use on retreats and parish missions which emphasizes not a list of sins but of the people in our lives that we may have hurt or who may have hurt us. It includes a prayer to forgive "that one person who has hurt me the most - that one person whom I swore I would never forgive!" I suspect that the community for which the evangelist Matthew wrote his gospel was having trouble with forgiveness. That means the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is aimed at us, too. We are in good company. AMEN
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