Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 17, 2023 - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Sir 27:30-28:7; Rom 14:7-9; Matt 18:21-35]Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? [Sirach] Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "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 times." [Matthew]
The first scripture for this Sunday, from the Book of Sirach [a/k/a Ecclesiasticus], begins with the words, Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. In short, grudges can become treasured possessions that we do not give up very easily! The wisdom of Sirach is vindicated in Jesus' teaching in the gospel scripture for today from the Gospel According to Matthew. It ends with the hard words from the Master of the unforgiving servant: "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?" The words from Sirach and from the parable of the Unforgiving Servant form a kind of "bracket" for our reflection.
Thousands of times in the life of the average Christian we will say "the Lord's Prayer," in the form given in the Sermon on the Mount [Matt. 6:9-13] Thousands of times we will ask the Lord, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." However, we do not recite Jesus' words that immediately follow: "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." [Matt. 6:14-15] The modern equivalent to the situation in the parable might be our emerging from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which we received sacramental forgiveness for our grudge against someone, only to see that person standing in the line and feel the surge of anger and resentment all over again. As Sirach says, we tend to hold tight to a grudge. The wise advice, "Let it go!" is hard advice to follow, and it is one of the biggest challenges of Christian life. But there it is!
Forgiveness must also go hand in hand with justice whenever possible. The action that caused the grudge may require that the wrong be righted whenever possible. Forgiveness is voluntary and no one can stop us from doing it if we are willing to forgive. However, our failure to forgive can have lasting consequences, as Jesus clearly teaches. How forgiving are we? AMEN