Unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart

TUESDAY 17 MARCH (Mt 18,21-35)

Let us imagine for a moment that God did not forgive sin, we would be damned instantly. We would be like the rebel Angels. In them rebellion produced immediate damnation. Instead the Lord gave man, after sin, the grace to be able to be converted, regret, repent, ask forgiveness and be readmitted to his friendship. This is the true culmination of the revelation of the Old Testament: “For with you great strength abides always; who can resist the might of your arm? Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord!” (Wis 11,21-12,2). The Ecclesiastes reveals another truth. Man does not see the time given for conversion and repentance as a true grace of salvation. Not seeing it as grace, he uses it to continue to sin: “Because the sentence against evildoers is not promptly executed, therefore the hearts of men are filled with the desire to commit evil” (Eccl 8,11). Being man in the image and likeness of God, since God also forgives man, he is also obliged, if he wants to be a man, to forgive. Since God always forgives those who are converted and return to Him with all their heart, even man must always forgive. His forgiveness is a condition for God to forgive. If man does not forgive, not even God will forgive his sins and man will die in his sin.

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.”

This man, who had received the forgiveness of a sum so high that it was not payable, turned out to be a non-man. He is not in the image of God. He did not grant forgiveness to his brother. Christ Jesus is the true man. From the cross, while he is crucified, while the blood gushes from his wounds, he asks the Father for forgiveness for his crucifiers. He is a real man. It is easy to know who a true man is and instead who a false man and a man false is. He who forgives is a true man and builder of true humanity. He who does not forgive not only is not he a true man, he is also a builder of false humanity. Non-humanity, false humanity, depraved humanity are revealed by all those who take revenge and kill. The height of inhumanity is reached when the innocent are killed. Everyone has the choice whether to be a true man or a false man. For the false man there is eternal perdition.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, make us true men in the image of the true man, Christ Jesus.