Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 13, 2020 - Thursday in the 19th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 12:1-2 and Matt 18:21-19:1,]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]
The parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which follows Peter's question, does not answer Peter's question directly. Peter's question is about patience in forgiving. The parable is about forgiving at all!! The closing lines of the parable: Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant as I had pity on you? take us back to the Lord's Prayer in this gospel (6:12), lines which we say thousands of times: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." The Gospel According to Matthew places a high premium on forgiveness and compassion even as it sets a very high standard for Christian living - the Sermon on the Mount! Peter's question with Jesus' response and the parable tell us that we must forgive and we must forgive often if we expect God to forgive us!
Right away the questions arise which I have heard many times in my pastoral and itinerant preaching experience, which begin, "What if......?" Usually these questions fail to distinguish between forgiveness and justice. If the unforgiving servant had given his fellow servant more time to pay the debt, both forgiveness and justice would have been met! The debt was owed but the unforgiving servant failed to show even a small measure of the mercy he had received from his master - the forgiveness of the entire debt! In a more modern context, I have encountered situations where forgiveness has been abused in situations where an addiction caused havoc in a family. Forgiveness does not exclude what we call "tough love." Forgiveness may require the offender to address the problem that gave rise to the offense. Forgiveness does not mean the toleration of evil!
Put in a sacramental context, we should remember that the forgiveness we seek in the Sacrament of Reconciliation requires a "firm purpose of amendment." This is more than a good intention. It means action and conversion. The unforgiving servant did not see the connection between the mercy he received and the mercy he should have shown. This connection is essential to Christian integrity. AMEN