HOMILY FOR THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (6)

HOMILY FOR THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: The Nature of Forgiveness.

BY: Father Anthony O. Ezeaputa, MA.

In our gospel text (Matthew 18:21–35), Peter asks, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” (Matthew 18:21). Peter goes ahead to offer his own suggestion: “As many as seven times?” In the Bible, the number seven often symbolizes completion or perfection (Genesis 1; 2:1–2).

For example, God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and, upon completion, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 1; 2:1–2). God commands us to also labor for six days and then complete the week by resting on the seventh day (Exodus 20:9–11). Similarly, Peter believes that forgiving seven times is perfect and complete forgiveness.

But Jesus says, “I say to you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). He is not talking about mathematical calculations but rather about the fundamental characteristics of forgiveness. Therefore, “seventy-seven times” is only a metaphor for the nature of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is limitless, generous, and compassionate; it prioritizes mercy over justice. Forgiveness requires its recipients to extend it to others as well. As the saying goes, “Pay it forward!” This is what Jesus elaborates on in the parable of the merciful king and his merciless servant.

A king decides to settle his accounts with his servants, and a servant is brought before him who owes him a huge amount. The man throws himself at his master’s feet. “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full” (Matthew 18:26). The king feels sorry for him and cancels his entire debt. Here, justice is met with mercy.

Now, the same servant sees a fellow servant who owes him a much smaller amount. He seizes him and beats him, demanding repayment. His fellow servant pleads for more time to repay the debt, but to no avail. He throws him into prison until he pays the debt. Here, justice is met without mercy.

His fellow servants were deeply distressed at how this servant had treated their fellow servant and reported the matter to their master. Their master became furious and handed the merciless servant over to the torturers until he paid him back his entire debt.

While forgiveness often appears unreasonable and weak, unforgiveness often seeks to be logical, selfish, vengeful, and brave.

While forgiveness is something along the lines of, “You hurt me, but I chose not to repay you in your own coin,” unforgiveness is, “You hurt me, and I will pay you back in your own coin.”

With the benefit of hindsight, we can judge the unforgiving servant harshly for refusing to love his neighbor as himself and for not paying forward his debt forgiveness. However, the purpose of this parable is to make us reflect on our lives and ask ourselves basic questions. Have you forgiven those who have wronged you? Are you merciful like the king or merciless like the servant?

In any case, as Christians, we have all received forgiveness for the debt of our sin through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And like the merciless servant, we could never repay the debt of our sin. So, we have the same obligation as the merciless servant to offer forgiveness and mercy to others.

Furthermore, in the Lord’s Prayer, commonly referred to as Our Father, we pray: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In contemporary English, a more precise translation of the word translated in the prayer as “trespasses” (“ofeilēmata” in the Greek) would be “debt” or “sin.”

Each time we pray the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us our debt or sin “as” or “in proportion” to how we forgive others. Following the logic of “as we forgive those who trespass against us,” if I refuse to forgive those who have wronged me, I would be asking God not to forgive me, period!

There is a story of a couple who used to hold family worship every morning in their house. One morning, in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer, the man rose from his knees and left the room. His wife was worried because he didn’t enjoy good health and assumed that he had suddenly fallen ill. “Is there anything to the matter?” She inquired about when she had followed him out of the room. “I am not fit to pray the Lord’s Prayer today,” the man replied (William Barclay).

Jesus is asking you today, “Are you fit to pray the Lord’s prayers now?” Are there people you need to forgive? Forgiveness is all about unmerited, unbelievable, and unlimited generosity. The will of God, which is that we forgive one another, defies mathematical calculations.

If we do not forgive one another from the heart and continue to nurture vengeance and anger, they will consume and imprison us. However, when we choose forgiveness, we release a prisoner, and that prisoner is no other person but you. Therefore, choose forgiveness today; it is liberating.

Let us pray for the strength to be merciful like our heavenly Father, for forgiveness of our sins, for the grace to forgive others, and for the conversion of those who have offended you. May Our Lady of Sorrows intercede for us. Amen.

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