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."
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."
We are made in the image and likeness of God. Because of this, we have the ability to emulate certain attributes of God. Being merciful is one of these attributes. Every time we forgive our brothers who have wronged us, we participate in God's mercy and forgiveness; we become instruments of Divine Mercy. We become "merciful as the Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). And we prove to be "like God when mercy seasons justice", as Portia, from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, puts it.
In the same way that we are able to love God and our neighbor because it is God who first loved us, we are also able to show mercy because we have been shown mercy. We are all sinners and God is always ready to forgive us every time we come to Him with sincere sorrow for our sins. God forgives us no matter how grave our sins are and even when we commit the same sins over and over again. He went even further and sent His Son to die for us to be freed from sin. Such is Divine Mercy, and precisely because we experience so great a compassion that we are expected to be merciful to others who sin against us. We cannot pray for forgiveness from God if we ourselves do not know how to forgive. Again Portia says it well: "We do pray for mercy. And that same prayer doth teach us to render the deeds of mercy." We also say it well when we pray the Our Father: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."
God forgives us out of His great love for us. In the standards of justice, He should have let us be damned because of our sins. But because of His Divine Mercy, He forgives us and He even let His Son suffer our punishment; thus in the cross, God's mercy and justice met. It is quite unimaginable yet very marvelous that we would be worthy of God's forgiveness. We are merely His creatures and when we sin and wander far from Him, why should He bother to seek us, to forgive us and to restore a loving relationship with us? We can only wonder why God thought we were worth forgiving.
In God, we can find reason to forgive even those who have done the worst things to us. Sometimes, we excuse ourselves from forgiving by saying that we have been so good to our neighbors and they should not have wronged us. But God, who is the Supreme Good, never made this an excuse. He, most of all, does not deserve all the hurt we give Him, but He still forgives us anyway. So what else is our excuse?
Forgiving may be a difficult task. God never expected us to do it with ease, but He expects us to do it anyway. Forgiveness should slowly take place even as we go through the process of healing. God forgives us even if we are not worth forgiving and even if our sins are so grave. So too, we must forgive anyone who offends us no matter how badly they hurt us. And as forgiveness is an imperative from God, surely He will help us to accomplish this difficult task.
So let us make it our prayer that we may be more forgiving. May we pray that God help us to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Through this, since to forgive is divine, we could make it a heaven here on earth!
In the same way that we are able to love God and our neighbor because it is God who first loved us, we are also able to show mercy because we have been shown mercy. We are all sinners and God is always ready to forgive us every time we come to Him with sincere sorrow for our sins. God forgives us no matter how grave our sins are and even when we commit the same sins over and over again. He went even further and sent His Son to die for us to be freed from sin. Such is Divine Mercy, and precisely because we experience so great a compassion that we are expected to be merciful to others who sin against us. We cannot pray for forgiveness from God if we ourselves do not know how to forgive. Again Portia says it well: "We do pray for mercy. And that same prayer doth teach us to render the deeds of mercy." We also say it well when we pray the Our Father: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."
God forgives us out of His great love for us. In the standards of justice, He should have let us be damned because of our sins. But because of His Divine Mercy, He forgives us and He even let His Son suffer our punishment; thus in the cross, God's mercy and justice met. It is quite unimaginable yet very marvelous that we would be worthy of God's forgiveness. We are merely His creatures and when we sin and wander far from Him, why should He bother to seek us, to forgive us and to restore a loving relationship with us? We can only wonder why God thought we were worth forgiving.
In God, we can find reason to forgive even those who have done the worst things to us. Sometimes, we excuse ourselves from forgiving by saying that we have been so good to our neighbors and they should not have wronged us. But God, who is the Supreme Good, never made this an excuse. He, most of all, does not deserve all the hurt we give Him, but He still forgives us anyway. So what else is our excuse?
Forgiving may be a difficult task. God never expected us to do it with ease, but He expects us to do it anyway. Forgiveness should slowly take place even as we go through the process of healing. God forgives us even if we are not worth forgiving and even if our sins are so grave. So too, we must forgive anyone who offends us no matter how badly they hurt us. And as forgiveness is an imperative from God, surely He will help us to accomplish this difficult task.
So let us make it our prayer that we may be more forgiving. May we pray that God help us to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Through this, since to forgive is divine, we could make it a heaven here on earth!
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