Today's readings are about mercy, being shown mercy by our God and being called to be merciful in relation to other human beings. The Gospel, Matthew 18:21-35, reveals God's infinite mercy towards us in the parable of the king who forgives a debtor an amount of debt that he absolutely has no way of resolving. Rather than following the king's example, this pardoned debtor exacts payment from someone who owes him a much lesser amount. He has him thrown into prison until he pays up! That leads to the king revoking his pardon and exacting payment from the debtor, who in turn is also imprisoned until he pays the huge amount that he also owes.
We have choices! Forgiving others leads to personal, inner freedom. Exacting payment--holding on to resentments, harboring grudges, and punishing others for their "debts," however we choose to do that--leads to enslaving or imprisoning ourselves in our own anger states. Furthermore, in the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. By not forgiving others who hurt us or owe us an apology, or whatever, we subject ourselves to God's justice, which is also infinite--what we mete out to others will be meted out to us!
In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 25, we pray: "Remember your mercies, O Lord."
That does not exonerate us from doing our part in acting mercifully toward others! Let us remember how merciful God is towards ourselves and, in turn, show mercy to our neighbors, near and far!
No comments:
Post a Comment