Gospel Reading Mt. 18:21-19:1

Then Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times. And so the kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet, with the words, “Be patient with me and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow-servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him, saying, “Pay what you owe me.” His fellow-servant fell at his feet and appealed to him, saying, “Be patient with me and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow-servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him, saying, “Pay what you owe me.” His fellow-servant fell at his feet and appealed to him, saying, “Be patient with me and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow-servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for the man and said to him, “You wicked servant, I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’ Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the territory of Judea on the far side of the Jordan.

Definitely, we all have stories of forgiveness wherein we had experienced to be forgiven or, maybe, the one who forgave. Perhaps, the majority of us also have pardoned the same persons for several times. And, undeniably, we have also heavily encountered the feeling that we do not want any more to forgive the person because he or she brought a lot of pain and hurts in our lives.

However, dear friends, if we are on the place of Peter who asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” For sure, our Lord will answer us with the same words, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times…” It means, we must forgive always and constantly in spite of. Yes, we know that it sounds unjust or insane if we consider our part and even difficult, but who are we not to forgive if the God who created us have forgiven us first despite of our sinfulness? And granting that we really want to assert our rights to justice and we do not want to forgive, to what extent of our lives that we will assert and not to forgive?