Costly forgiveness (Tues of Lent 3)

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Deuteronomy 3:25,34-43 ; Matthew 18:21-35

WE BESEECH thee, almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants: and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty; to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Forgiveness from the heart

Today Peter comes to our Lord enquiring about the limits of forgiveness. And he puts into words this very human approach to forgiveness. Forgiveness is a costly business. When we are the victim of someone else’s wrongdoing, when we have been hurt and paid a price for another’s transgression, then it is very hard to forgive. It seems like justice to say that there should be a limit to forgiveness. We should only have to go so far to forgive someone; after all it is not our fault that they sinned against us.

One thing we need to be clear about is that forgiveness is not about stopping our feelings of hurt, nor is it forgetting what has happened. We can’t of course just stop feeling hurt, nor can we just forget! What forgiveness is to do with, is our heart. Our Lord’s words at the end of the gospel (Mt 18:21-end) exhort us to forgive from the heart. It is within the heart that everything is bound or loosed (see CCC 2843). It is the heart that hands itself over to the Holy Spirit that will turn hurt into compassion, and memory into intercession. Then the heart of a forgiving man shares in the victory of the cross of Christ: “Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do.”

The parable in our gospel reading today should shock us. The enormous debt of 10,000 talents would have been millions of denarii. The unmerciful servant obtained forgiveness for his own debt but was merciless with a servant who owed him a far smaller debt. The point our Lord is making should not be lost on us. He has forgiven us much, and our Lord has done so freely and completely, requiring us only to be repentant, but in fact there is another aspect. If we freely benefit and partake in the infinite mercy of God, then that divine mercy needs to start flowing from us. We should not forget the covenant of mercy we enter into, whenever we pray the Lord’s prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

It is of course a great work we are called to. The world would counsel us to either “forget about it” or that “vengeance is sweet”. But the Lord’s way is divine mercy that has no limit (that’s the meaning of 70 times 7).

It might seem strange at times that the church encourages us to confess our sins so frequently, and to confess things that most other people would simply just forget about, but with a greater sense of our sinfulness and sorrow for our own sin comes a greater sense of the mercy of God. With that greater sense of His compassion for us, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we too can learn to forgive with a mercy that has no limits.

Psalm 25

Ad te, Domine, levavi

UNTO thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee :

O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.

2. For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed :

but such as transgress without a cause shall be put to confusion.

3. Shew me thy ways, O Lord : and teach me thy paths.

4. Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me :

for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee hath been my hope all the day long.

5. Call to remembrance, O Lord, thy tender mercies :

and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old.

6. O remember not the sins and offences of my youth :

but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O Lord, for thy goodness.

7. Gracious and righteous is the Lord : therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

8. Them that are meek shall he guide in judgement :

and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way.

9. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth :

unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

10. For thy Name's sake, O Lord : be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.

11. What man is he that feareth the Lord : him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

12. His soul shall dwell at ease : and his seed shall inherit the land.

13. The secret of the Lord is among them that fear him : and he will shew them his covenant.

14. Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord : for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

15. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me : for I am desolate and in misery.

16. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged : O bring thou me out of my troubles.

17. Look upon my adversity and misery : and forgive me all my sin.

18. Consider mine enemies, how many they are : and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.

19. O keep my soul, and deliver me : let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in thee.

20. Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me : for my hope hath been in thee.

21. Deliver Israel, O God : out of all his troubles.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting out sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.