Sunday Reflections

 

First Reading:	Sirach 27:30—28:7
Second Reading:	Romans 14:7-9
Gospel:	Matthew 18.21-35 - The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

 

The central mystery woven throughout the readings this Sunday is the need to forgive others. In today’s Gospel we hear the parable of the wicked servant who although he was greatly forgiven of his large debt could not forgive the small debt of his fellow servant. This parable can be summarized by the words found in the Our Father, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The Catechism teaches us that unless we forgive those in our lives, we cannot fully experience God’s forgiveness. It says that “in refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father's merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace” (CCC 2840)

So as stewards we should strive to forgive those who have hurt us, but how do we do this? The essential answer is prayer. The Catechism plainly states that “it is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession” (CCC 2843). So we don’t need to conjure up warm or fuzzy feelings, but we must intentionally choose to pray for our debtor and for the grace to forgive them. This is a difficult process and is sure to not happen overnight. Let us take some time daily, starting today, to pray for those who’ve hurt us.

Summary

The Catechism is very explicit in teaching that unless we forgive others we cannot fully experience God’s forgiveness. It instructs us that forgiveness doesn’t necessitate good feelings or forgetting past offenses, but instead that it requires intentionally praying for those who have hurt us. As stewards let us begin to pray for the ability to forgive and so live out the words, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”