First Reading - Daniel 3:25,34-43
Gospel - Matthew 18:21-35
It is very calmly said - "forget and forgive." However, in reality it is difficult and tough to forgive and forget at the same time. The readings of the day display the unconditional forgiveness of God towards us and challenge us to follow Him in doing so.
The first reading presents a prayer of Azariah for mercy. The prayer of Azariah arises in the midst of persecution sparked by the Assyrian king. The prayer revolves around the pleading for God's mercy as Azariah (Abed-Nigo) realizes that the Israel stands strong with the mercy of God and without God's mercy or God's forgiveness, the Israel will tumble down to ruin. The prayer, reminiscing the presence of the temple that gave people opportunity to plead for God's mercy by sin offerings but now was razed to the ground, proposes a new form of sin offering, a contrite heart in place of sacrifices and burnt offering in the temple, for imploring God's mercy. The prayer is deeply saturated with profound faith in the mercy of God and conviction that God will act on behalf of the people. This prayer paves the way to see God as forgiving God and humanity in need of His mercy.
The gospel of the day also punctuates with the theme of forgiveness or mercy. The theme of forgiveness is ellaborated by the discussion between Jesus and Peter but their discussion culminates in the demonstration of the boundless mercy of God and our duty to imitate the mercy of God in order to receive His mercy. The interesting part of the discussion jumps out at the words of Peter - "How many times should I forgive my brother, is it seven times?" The point of Peter was to attract appreciation from Jesus because according to Jews, it was fair enough to forgive three times but Peter mounted to five times. Naturally, he expected a few words of praises but his expectations didn't meet the end. Jesus demands more than the usual practice. He asks to imitate the unconditional mercy of God as narrated in the parable. The difference between the debt of the man and his fellow servant is shown so great (ten thousand talents and hundred dinarii - ten thousand talents is equal to 60000000 dollars and hundred dinarii is equal to 200 dollars) to show the enormous mercy of God in contrast to our reluctance to forgive others who offend or hurt us.
Dear friends, it is difficult to forget so easily the hurt feelings that we harbour. It's indeed very difficult to forgive those who cause such hurt feelings in our lives. However, the readings invite us to reflect upon our mistakes, failures and hurts as well. They also might have caused pain and sufferings to some or many but we tend to ignore them because they cost us nothing. There are many sins that we might have committed and thus offended God but God does not harbour them when we approach Him in sorrow. The first reading reminds us today that we often err and offend God, hence we remain in need of God's mercy everytime. Similarly, the gospel exhorts us to be ready to share God's mercy with others by forgiving them. This is how we can imitate God's mercy in our lives. It's by showing our mercy to others, we can expect forgiveness from God as well. As in the prayer 'Our Father' we always pray - "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." The measure of forgiveness we give to others will be measure of forgiveness from God for us.
Forgiveness is an outstanding Christian value and is our hallmark as Christians. Jesus taught forgiveness and showed this even at the point of his death by forgiveing his executioners. We are Christians because we follow Christ. Hence, let's not forget to follow him in his forgiveness as well.
It's also said that the more we retain unforgiving hearts, the more physically, spiritually and mentally handicapped we become because we are not liberated from the bondage. Once we forgive people for their hurt feelings, we become free and liberated.
Let's not be bound by the clutches and burdens of unforgiving hearts but live our lives in freedom as sons and daughters of God.
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