Reading 1
Sir 27:30-28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R. (8) The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Reading 2
Rom 14:7-9
Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Gospel
Mt 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
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 the fellow servant 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."
Meditation: Matthew 18:21-35
“Not seven times but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22)
It’s been ten years since two jetliners crashed into the Twin Towers in Manhattan, but Paul Fox can still see the flames and, in them, the faces of deceased friends and colleagues. At work on the fiftieth floor of the South Tower when the World Trade Center was hit, Fox emerged unharmed, yet hardly untouched. Seeing so many people killed and knowing he was Osama bin Laden’s target, too, changes you, he said in a recent interview with a Seattle, Washington, television station.
Even so, Fox recoiled at news videos of people wildly celebrating bin Laden’s death in May. “As a Christian, that kind of rejoicing at any person’s death doesn’t feel right.” Still, he struggles with forgiveness. “I’m having to search my soul about that. I’m not there yet,” he admits. (For a link to the interview, click here.)
Even when the offense is infinitely tiny compared to a terrorist attack, how hard it is to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Considering how the world has grown more divided and less forgiving over the past ten years, this call has become especially challenging.
Is it really possible to forgive one another “from the heart,” as Jesus urges us to do (Matthew 18:35)? Not on our own strength alone! But we know Christ, and through his Holy Spirit, we have all we need to become ambassadors for forgiveness and unity. Though we may not consider ourselves very important or influential, our witness counts! Just think: If everyone reading this meditation today chose to become an agent of mercy, we just might change the world.
“ ‘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’ (Catechism, 2843). Holy Spirit, give me such a heart!”
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