Forgive From Your Heart: Reflections on the Readings for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

If you haven’t already read the readings you can find them here.

Sirach 27:30-28:7
Psalm 103
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35

What happens to us when we cannot forgive? Lack of forgiveness is often accompanied by anger. Sometimes it is our anger over some transgression another made against us, real or imagined, large or small, that makes us stubborn and unable to forgive. “Anger does not enhance judgment.” (Brant Hansen, Unforgettable)

Anger is one of the seven capital sins and is contrary to the spiritual work of mercy which enjoins us to “bear wrongs patiently.”

In the reading from Sirach we are told that “wrath and anger are hateful things yet the sinner holds them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance.” Saint Paul cautioned against vengeance in his letter to the Romans. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (12:19)

As Sirach tells us it is difficult for the sins of the wrathful to be forgiven. Nor can such people pardon themselves. Fortunately for us Jesus came to save us from our sins, giving us the sacrament of Reconciliation so that, through the priest, He can forgive providing we, too, are forgiving. At every Mass we say the “Our Father” in which we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses [sins] as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Sirach cautions us to set enmity aside and “remember death and decay.” Recall the saying, “Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori.” “Time flies, remember death.” This should make us reflect on the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (ICSB), explains, “Literally, ‘your last things’, i.e., your judgment and death, as a reminder that the Lord will render to each one according to his works.” (See also, Sirach 7:36, 11:26; Proverbs 24:12; Matthew 16:27; et. al.) And Paul gives us some excellent words of wisdom to guide us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

The responsorial tells us to count on the Lord’s mercy for, being slow to anger, He gives us the opportunity to repent of our transgressions. He “pardons our iniquities” and shows kindness toward those who fear Him. In the remainder of Psalm 103 we read “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” If we have reverent fear of the Lord, we will try to do His will and “He will heal our ills.”

The brief segment from Romans reminds us that we belong to the Lord, in our living and in our dying. This should cause us to reflect on the words of wisdom we heard from Sirach and in the responsorial psalm. And, reading on, Paul goes into dealings with our brethren and the importance of seeking righteousness. “Then let us ... resolve never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” Dying in the Lord has several meanings, such as we die with Him when we are baptized as well as our willingness to sacrifice for Him but especially in dying to ourselves; becoming selfless rather than selfish.

In the gospel, Jesus is emphatic about the necessity for a forgiving heart. This segment comes right after last week’s reading on the need to forgive our brothers and what to do when a fellow Christian (if they aren’t Christian, there is no recourse through the Church, but forgiveness is still important) offends us. In his typical human fashion, Peter tries to put a limit on this requirement to forgive a brother but by multiplying Peter’s number Jesus is essentially saying there is no limit on forgiveness. We see this in God’s love for us, the only thing He cannot forgive is our refusal to accept His forgiveness, the sin against the Holy Spirit. It is interesting to note that this event takes place long after Jesus teaches them how to pray and gives them the “Our Father,” which Matthew goes into in chapter 6 of his gospel (6:5-15), which includes the phrase, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

To emphasize His point, Jesus goes into the parable of the ungrateful servant, which deals specifically with debts. (Note, Luke’s version of the Our Father uses both the terms sin and debt; Luke 11:2-4.) In this parable, a rich man’s servant owed him a great deal, more than several years’ wages; basically, an unpayable debt (just like, without Jesus, we cannot pay our own debts to God due to our sinfulness). The merciful king initially ordered the servant and his family to be sold in order to repay the debt. The servant pleads with the master, promising to repay the debt in full, given time. The master not only allows him to go but forgives the debt entirely. (If this servant had been subject to the IRS, they might have considered this income and taxed him for it.)

Almost immediately this same servant found someone who owed him money and seized him, declaring that he should pay what he owes. In a replay of the scene with the king, this fellow servant asks for time, promising to repay the debt in full. However, the ungrateful servant did not learn from his lesson and demanded that his fellow servant be put in prison. When the master learned of this he rescinded his forgiveness and proceeded to treat the ungrateful servant in the same way that he had treated his brother servant and, not only threw him in prison, but handed him over to the torturers in order to exact payment. Jesus concludes the story with the statement, “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, articles 2843, 2844)

This amounts to a graphic illustration of the Lord’s Prayer. The king, often likened to the Father, when he saw the unforgiveness of the ungrateful servant, treated him the way he had treated his brother servant. This is also a classic example of the “Golden Rule;” do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We often think we are justified in not forgiving others. After all, we have been offended and there should be some “restitution” for that. But lack of forgiveness often leads to anger and bitterness which, more often than not, hurt us more than the one we are angry with. And, if it turns to vengeance, it becomes a serious sin (see CCC, article 2302). St. Francis de Sales notes, in his treatise, Finding God’s Will for You, “The prophet simply means that if anger catches us by surprise and excites in our hearts the first stirrings of anger, we should be most careful against letting ourselves be carried further into this passion so as to sin.” Recall also, Jesus’ admonition to His disciples to love one’s enemies and pray for them.

From the Catechism: “In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, ‘You shall not kill,’ and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies.” (Art. 2262)