Call to Forgiveness
March 5, 2024 - Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Daniel 3:25, 34-43; Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9; Matt. 18:21-35
Our first reading comes from the Book of Daniel. We hear a powerful song from one of the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego courageous individuals refused to bow down to the golden image set by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. Azariah, also known as Abednego, praises God's justice and acknowledges their people's sins that led to their national tragedy. However, he believes that true repentance, shown through contrition and humility, will move the Lord to show mercy.
Similarly, Psalm 25 conveys the plea of the psalmist for divine guidance and forgiveness. The psalmist recognizes that the Lord teaches sinners the way of righteousness and directs the humble towards justice. The core message of the Christian faith is the proclamation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and that there is no limit to His mercy (1 Tim 1:15-16). Moreover, after experiencing God's mercy ourselves we should also forgive others: "As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive" (Col 3:13; cf. Eph 4:32). But what will happen if we do not show mercy to others?
Today's Gospel begins with Peter's question: "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?" And the apostle immediately suggests an answer: "As many as seven times?" But the Lord changes the number to "seventy-seven times". Jesus' response takes us to the times before the Flood when people were concerned not with forgiveness but with vengeance. Cain who murdered his brother was to be avenged sevenfold, and his descendant Lamech already seventy-sevenfold (Gen 4:24). But society built on vengeance has no future and so Cain's generation perished in the Flood. We are called to forgive "seventy-seven times" (Mt 18:22).
A debt of "ten thousand talents" (Mt 18:24) amounted to one hundred million denarii. Since the normal wage per day was one denarius (Mt 20:2), that servant would need more than 2,739 years of work to repay his debt. This amount represents the debt we owe the Lord. We would never be able to repay the debt of our sins and so Jesus came to offer His life as a ransom for our sins. On the other hand, his fellow servant owed him only a hundred denarii - three months of work would suffice to pay it back. This small amount represents the debts that our brothers and sisters owe us. Those debts are trivial compared to the debt we owe to God.
"The master of that servant was moved with compassion" (Mt 18:27) but the heart of the servant remained like a stone and it brought disaster upon his life. The unforgiving servant was already released and forgiven but his lack of compassion ruined everything: "In anger his master delivered him to the torturers, until he should pay all his debt" (Mt 18:34).