Fr. Victor Bongiovanni, sx
TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
POINTS FOR REFLECTION:
a) At the time of Jesus, the Rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Israel, condemned vengeance, anger, grudges and recommended reconciliation. If one has done something wrong, he had to admit his mistake and asked for pardon. But in the mind of those teachers, the duty to forgive was limited to the people of Israel not to the pagans or to the enemies.
b) The Scribes used to discuss on how many times one had to be forgiven. Some said once, others two or even three times, but all agreed that there should be no fourth time; in such case the punishment became mandatory.
c) The Apostles wanted to know exactly what were their Master’s views on this matter. The number ‘seven’ in the Bible means ‘totality’. The surprised reaction of Peter is understandable, as he asked his Master: ‘Do you mean to say that we must forgive always and every time?’ But Jesus’ reply goes well beyond what Peter fears: ‘Not seven (that is always), but seventy-seven times (that is, more than always, if it were possible!).
d) ‘The Parable of the unforgiving servant’ is about ‘forgiveness’, a teaching strictly connected to the fundamental commandment of love. In fact, God’s mercy, proposed to us as a model to be imitated, is manifested in the sacrifice of his own Son: a decision taken by God, willingly and freely, moved only by his love for us, who are the sinners, the offenders: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk.6,36)
Some other thoughts from ‘the Parable of the Unforgiving servant’
- God forgives, people refuse to forgive (= ‘the master cancelled the debt, the unforgiving servant refused to do it’).
- Sin has an infinite malice because it is an offence against the infinite dignity of God (= ‘the debt of ten thousand talents’).
- The cancellation of the debt is due only to the Master’s mercy (=’he felt so sorry for him’).
- God’s forgiveness is removed from us if we refuse to forgive others (= ‘the debt was first cancelled and then reinstated’).
- e) God manifests his mercy when he transforms people and leads them to conversion, when he changes them and turns them from selfish individuals into truly loving persons. For us, too, to forgive should mean to open up our hearts to welcome others, and to set such conditions as to help them to reconstruct their lives.
TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
POINTS FOR REFLECTION:
a) At the time of Jesus, the Rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Israel, condemned vengeance, anger, grudges and recommended reconciliation. If one has done something wrong, he had to admit his mistake and asked for pardon. But in the mind of those teachers, the duty to forgive was limited to the people of Israel not to the pagans or to the enemies.
b) The Scribes used to discuss on how many times one had to be forgiven. Some said once, others two or even three times, but all agreed that there should be no fourth time; in such case the punishment became mandatory.
c) The Apostles wanted to know exactly what were their Master’s views on this matter. The number ‘seven’ in the Bible means ‘totality’. The surprised reaction of Peter is understandable, as he asked his Master: ‘Do you mean to say that we must forgive always and every time?’ But Jesus’ reply goes well beyond what Peter fears: ‘Not seven (that is always), but seventy-seven times (that is, more than always, if it were possible!).
d) ‘The Parable of the unforgiving servant’ is about ‘forgiveness’, a teaching strictly connected to the fundamental commandment of love. In fact, God’s mercy, proposed to us as a model to be imitated, is manifested in the sacrifice of his own Son: a decision taken by God, willingly and freely, moved only by his love for us, who are the sinners, the offenders: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk.6,36)
Some other thoughts from ‘the Parable of the Unforgiving servant’
- God forgives, people refuse to forgive (= ‘the master cancelled the debt, the unforgiving servant refused to do it’).
- Sin has an infinite malice because it is an offence against the infinite dignity of God (= ‘the debt of ten thousand talents’).
- The cancellation of the debt is due only to the Master’s mercy (=’he felt so sorry for him’).
- God’s forgiveness is removed from us if we refuse to forgive others (= ‘the debt was first cancelled and then reinstated’).
- e) God manifests his mercy when he transforms people and leads them to conversion, when he changes them and turns them from selfish individuals into truly loving persons. For us, too, to forgive should mean to open up our hearts to welcome others, and to set such conditions as to help them to reconstruct their lives.