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Lenten Weekday
Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Psalm 25:4-5AB 6 and 7BC, 8-9
Matthew 18:21-35
Summary
In the Gospel according to Matthew reading, Peter asks Jesus how many times
must he forgive. Jesus responds with the parable of the
Unforgiving Servant
.
He reminds us that being a person of forgiveness is far more important than the
number of times we forgive.
Reflection
In the Gospel reading, a servant is forgiven a HUGE debt by the King after he
begs for patience and promises to pay back it back in full. Later that servant
shows no compassion for a fellow servant who owes him a much smaller debt
and has him imprisoned. Upon hearing of this, the King takes back his word and
hands the servant over to torturers until the debt can be paid in full. It˅s easy to
spot the wrongdoing, yet are we not guilty of this behavior? We easily accept
forgiveness but we don˅t always
give it; instead, we hold grudges. God
forgives
us over and over for our sins. Judgment day is His, not ours. This could take a
lot of unnecessary pressure off of us but somehow we ignore it.
God wants us to seek the best in people and be quick to forgive, yet our attitude
is sometimes to expose the worst and be quick to condemn. Why this petty be-
havior? Our hearts grow dark without forgiveness and the room for love gets
squeezed out by the darkness. In the words of Mother Teresa, ˈIf we really want
to love, we must learn how to forgive.ˉ Who of us does not
really
want love? We
know we are to love our neighbors, and it˅s easy if we have good neighbors. But
what happens when forgiving is difficult? Should we just not forgive?
Many times over, I taught my children to say they
were sorry. Why? Because I wanted them to be re-
spectful and compassionate beings but I too wanted
them to feel that ˈgoodˉ feeling of a weight off one˅
s mind and heart, a fresh start with whomever they