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.
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.”
“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.
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.”
At first, the message of this reading seemed quite obvious to me: practice forgiveness for other's wrong doings. I remember reading and writing about how hard it can be to forgive, but it is necessary to do in life. However, this reading isn't JUST about that kind of forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteJesus tells a story about a man who forgives his servant who then goes and doesn't forgive a man who owed him. For me, it speaks volumes...it is so easy for us to receive forgiveness from others. We beg for it, and then when we get it we at times don't even think about how precious and amazing what we just received really is. We take for granted that forgiveness, and tend to forgo it when we are asked to give it to others.
I think this goes just beyond forgiveness as well. There have been times in life when people have treated me with unprecedented kindness, and I have taken it sometimes without even thinking about how awesome this kindness really is. For example, when I was a child, I lived near a family called the Simmons. They have always treated me like a grandson, an extension of their own family. To be quite honest, I basically consider them my grandparents...they treat me with more love and care than my real grandparents ever have. I always go see them or write to them when I am away...however, I almost always do it at the prompting of my parents. I always figure I have more time...and in the past, time has run out before.
I need to know that time is fleeting. Forgiveness, along with acts of generosity and kindness, need to come naturally and selflessly....for everyone I come across in life. There should be no delay in how I respond. I pray to the Lord that He can give me the grace to respond like Jesus would with the people who I dearly care about, along with the people I barely know.