Mt 18:21-35
21Peter [approached Jesus and] asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
25Since 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. 26At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28When 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.’ 29Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
Reflection:
Seventy-seven times. The question, I believe, is not how many times we should forgive our brother, but how we forgive. Let me offer three simple ways, though there must be 70 x 7 ways.
1. Do not think that you are the only one hurt. You have hurt the other party as well. You, too, need to be forgiven. All the servants in the parable are hurt. That is why they know what forgiveness demands.
2. Do not take yourself too seriously. We are mere servants. Only the unforgiving servant takes himself seriously, and that brings about his fall from grace.
3. Forgive—just do it and get it over with, and then enjoy the peace and lightness.
A wife caught his husband having an affair. She forgave him and took him back. But the husband wondered why the wife kept reminding him of his past sin. This troubled him and he asked her why the constant reminder when she had already forgiven him. The wife replied: “Of course, I have forgiven you. But I don’t want you to forget that I have once forgiven you!”
List your next steps to forgiveness, from number 4 to 70 x 7.