Forgiveness

Homily
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
11 SEPTEMBER 2005

Matthew 18: 21-35

[Mat 18:21] Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
[Mat 18:22] Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy times seven times.
[Mat 18:23] That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
[Mat 18:24] When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him ten thousand talents..
[Mat 18:25] 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.
[Mat 18:26] At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
[Mat 18:27] Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
[Mat 18:28] When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.'
[Mat 18:29] Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
[Mat 18:30] But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.
[Mat 18:31] Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
[Mat 18:32] His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
[Mat 18:33] Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?'
[Mat 18:34] Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
[Mat 18:35] So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
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Our baptism has incorporated us into the Body of Christ, wherein we receive a share in the life of God Himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our confirmation has empowered us to minister the same Holy Spirit first, to one another, and then outward to the world. The Body of Christ continues to be built up in love through our mutual ministering of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 4 we read:

[Eph 4:15] Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
[Eph 4:16] from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love.

The Holy Spirit makes us one with Christ as sons and daughters of God.

[Rom 8:14] For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
[Rom 8:15] For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!"


The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ, whereby we are to conduct ourselves just as He did.

[1 John 2:5] ... This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
[1 John 2:6] whoever claims to abide in him ought to live (just) as he lived.

The divinity and love of Jesus shines forth in the infinite compassion He has shown us by canceling the infinite debt owed by us for our sins. Thus, to be children of the Father, to conduct ourselves as Jesus did, is manifest in a pre-eminent way when we forgive those who trespass against us, as Our Lord has commanded us, and as the adage has it to err is human; to forgive, divine. The body of Christ is built up in love in a powerful way when we forgive; the body of Christ is damaged when we do not forgive, and the forgiveness of our sins is taken away as well.

When Our Lord taught his disciples the Lord's prayer, He presents the petition for forgiveness of our trespasses to be conditional on our unconditional forgiveness of those who trespass against us. He emphasizes this by repeating it at the end of the prayer, as we read in Matthew 6:

[Mat 6:12] ... forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
[Mat 6:13] and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
[Mat 6:14] For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
[Mat 6:15] But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you your transgressions.

The story Our Lord relates in today's gospel is crystal clear: the forgiveness of our sins is conditioned on our forgiveness of the injuries committed against us by others. The original Greek has it that the debtor who was brought before the King owed the King ten thousand talents. A talent can roughly be considered to represent many years' wages, and hence symbolizes the infinite debt owed by each of us for each of our sins.

The debtor pleaded for time to pay his debt. The King, moved with compassion, knowing that the debtor would never have enough time, went much further and forgave the huge debt in full. Here we see symbolized the infinite mercy of God, as he applies the merits of Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection to the forgiveness of an infinite debt each time a serious sin is brought to the tribunal of the sacrament of reconciliation.

The debt owed by the man's fellow servant is rendered in the Greek as one hundred denarii, which roughly represents a few months' wages. Upon refusing to accept his fellow servant's plea for time to pay his debt, the wicked servant placed himself in the full wrath of the King after the King had learned what he had done, as our Lord relates in today's gospel:

[Mat 18:34] Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
[Mat 18:35] So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

St. John Chrysostom reminds us that Jesus did not say "your Father", but rather "my Father". For it is not proper for God to be called the Father of one who is so wicked and malicious

Our Lord goes even further than this; He states clearly to the scribes and pharisees that anyone who does not believe in what He teaches on this issue or on any other does not have a Father in heaven, rather, the devil is father to such a one, as we read in John 8:

[John 8:43] Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word.
[John 8:44] You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father's desires.

Each and every one of us has transgressed upon another, and has been transgressed upon by another, perhaps many times during a lifetime. If we are honest about it, we must acknowledge the tendency to focus more on the bad things done to us than the bad things we do to others.

Today's Gospel is a solemn reminder that we will not go to heaven unless we forgive our brothers from our heart. For some of us, our entire salvation hangs on this single issue. Some have been wronged in ways truly grievous, and have come to believe that they are not capable of the Christ-like forgiveness that we all are commanded to manifest. I suggest the following as short meditations in this regard:

1. Our Lord always gives us the power to do what He commands us to do. Yes, we might not be able to forgive from our heart using our own natural powers. But we hold firmly that the grace that Our Lord gives us is more than sufficient. We must be humbly open to this grace, and believe firmly in His promise to provide it.

2. Second meditation: I have been grievously injured by another, perhaps once, perhaps several times, or even perhaps in a repetitive habitual manner over a long period of time. I must ask myself: am I willing to present myself to Jesus Christ crucified and ask Him that justice be done, understanding that the justice done for me is also to be done to me? Or do I accept the mercy of Jesus for my own sins, and accept in my heart the stipulation that I show mercy to my brother's transgressions against me which, no matter how grievous, are infinitely less?

3. Finally, do I clearly see that I have an opportunity to be like God when I exercise an act of heartfelt forgiveness?

Can we imagine heaven as a place where there is unforgiveness? Because of our baptism whereby we have received a share God's own life, heaven (in a sense) has already begun in the here and now. Forgiveness strengthens our citizenship in heaven; unforgiveness destroys it. In obedience to Our Lord's command, for each person who has wronged us, let us say one of the two following prayers:

If the person is living:

Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive from my heart all the injuries N. has inflicted upon me, and I ask you to grant him/ her health, safety, salvation, and length of days. Amen.

If the person has died:

Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive from my heart all the injuries N. has inflicted upon me, and I ask that he/ she rest in peace, and that perpetual light shine upon him/ her. Amen.

The grace of forgiveness of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ be with us all.