BUT SEVENTY-SEVEN TIMES

Ez 12,1-2; Ps 77; Mt 18,21-19,1
16 AUGUST
It is more than just to highlight the whole truth of our God regarding the forgiveness of sins. Our God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, asks every man to forgive, if he wants to be forgiven by him. If man does not forgive, he does not even forgive. If man is not merciful to his brothers, let him not hope to find mercy when he knocks on his heart. Forgiveness opens not only the doors of forgiveness, but also of the fulfilment of every other prayer. Who wants to be heard by God, must be of a pure and holy heart, free from hate, resentment, wish for justice and desire for revenge. None of these things must dwell in the heart of man. Jesus gives a Law that prevents from their arising that these things can enter the heart: non-resistance, prayer for persecutors and love for enemies. In addition, he adds the reconciliation command before presenting a personal offer.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow (Mt 5,21-26. 38-42).

Our God goes infinitely beyond this command. He sends his Son into the flesh to take upon himself all the sins of humanity and to atone for them. Jesus comes and makes of his body the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the holocaust for their redemption.

Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? 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 him 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 his brother from his heart.” When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

Today, Jesus reveals to us that our debt to the Father can never be paid. He cancels it on condition that we forgive the miserable debts of our debtors. But we are often like this wicked servant. We are thirsty for justice, whereas for us there should be only space in the hearts for the greatest mercy.

Mother of mercy, Angels and Saints make us merciful like our heavenly Father.