Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” MT 18:21-35
Forgiveness. Necessary to enter eternal life. The foundation of our faith. What we see every time we look at the crucifix. The most difficult thing to do because we have so much pride. Forgiveness is a great checkpoint for us in our spiritual life. Have we learned how to forgive yet. Have we taught our children how to forgive. Forgiveness is powerful. It usually brings forth tears, a burden lifted from our shoulders, new life, a fresh start. The interesting thing about forgiveness is we are bound to the person until we forgive. We are chained to them. In pride, we think that they need to say they are sorry and we keep waiting, worrying, being anxious, and dwell on our anger. Sometimes we are so prideful we may be chained to that person for 40, 50, 60 years. Sometimes, we do not forgive until our death bed, but isn’t that a little too late. This is not what God intended. When is the last time you went to confession and Father, who is Jesus Christ, says, “Well, you have sinned the same sin too many times, this time God is not going to forgive you or that sin is a whopper sorry God won’t forgive that one.” Never. Period. God’s mercy is the size of the ocean our sins are little, “Seven times seventy-seven”. WE CANNOT ENTER HEAVEN IF WE DO NOT FORGIVE. We must swallow our pride, humble ourselves (you are dust and to dust you shall return), and forgive no matter how hard it is. Tears will be shed, a burden will be lifted, and new life will spring forth. So, go tell the person (s) in the other room you are sorry because that is usually the one we need the most forgiveness from.
Today’s challenge: Forgive. Thank God for forgiving you over and over and always having a refuge to go to when we sin.
Be a servant, Become a saint!
Christian YOLO
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