Forgive seventy times seven

 

Thursday 13 August 2020

Forgive Seventy times seven

Ps 73: 20, 19, 22, 23

Look to your covenant, O Lord,

and forget not the life of your poor ones for ever.

Arise, O God, and defend your cause,

and forget not the cries of those who seek you.

 

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Prayer

Almighty ever-living God,

whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,

we dare to call our Father,

bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts

the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters,

that we may merit to enter into the inheritance

which you have promised.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

 

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First reading

Ezekiel 12:1-12 ·

The oracle of exile against the whole House of Israel

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, you are living with that set of rebels who have eyes and never see, ears and never hear, for they are a set of rebels. You, son of man, pack an exile’s bundle and emigrate by daylight when they can see you, emigrate from where you are to somewhere else while they watch. Perhaps they will admit then that they are a set of rebels. You will pack your baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight, for them to see, and leave like an exile in the evening, making sure that they are looking. As they watch, make a hole in the wall, and go out through it. As they watch, you will shoulder your pack and go out into the dark; you will cover your face so that you cannot see the country, since I have made you a symbol for the House of Israel.’

I did as I had been told. I packed my baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight; and in the evening I made a hole through the wall with my hand. I went out into the dark and shouldered my pack as they watched.

The next morning the word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, did not the House of Israel, did not that set of rebels, ask you what you were doing? Say, “The Lord says this: This oracle is directed against Jerusalem and the whole House of Israel wherever they are living.” Say, “I am a symbol for you; the thing I have done will be done to them; they will go into exile, into banishment.” Their ruler will shoulder his pack in the dark and go out through the wall; a hole will be made to let him out; he will cover his face rather than see the country.’ THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Prayerful reflection

We do not know where Ezekiel made his prophecy. Was it in Jerusalem, or was it in Babylon among the exiles and prophesying to them the second wave of exiles? The point the prophet is making is that all this hardship is the result of their sins. The people saw and understood, but would not believe. They laughed at him. Messages from God will only be accepted by people who have faith. Miracles do not produce faith. It is faith that sees the hand of God in the miracle. Sin today also brings only destruction. It is not that God has abandoned the sinner, but that the sinner has abandoned God.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 77(78):56-59,61-62

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

They put God to the proof and defied him;

they refused to obey the Most High.

They strayed, as faithless as their fathers,

like a bow on which the archer cannot count.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

With their mountain shrines they angered him;

made him jealous with the idols they served.

God saw this and was filled with fury:

he utterly rejected Israel.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

He gave his ark into captivity,

his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.

He gave up his people to the sword,

in his anger against his chosen ones.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

 

 

Gospel

Matthew 18:21-19:1

'How often must I forgive my brother?'

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the part of Judaea which is on the far side of the Jordan. THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

In the chapter Matthew has put together the teaching of Jesus regarding the life in the Church. The humblest is the greatest. He has taught us how to deal with people who are disruptive. Today he teaches how to deal with those who offend us. We are to be ever ready to forgive those who repent. Nor are we to bear ill-will about anyone.

Matthew stresses this in his Gospel. In today’s passage Jesus gives a parable in which the servant owes an amount that no one could repay. When a person sins grievously he/she can in no way reconcile themselves with God. They need to face the punishment, which is eternal. However through Baptism and the Sacrament of Reconciliation God forgives this sin as a result of the intercession of Jesus. It follows, Jesus says, that the person now forgiven by God should forgive those who offend them. Many ‘devout believers’ who bear grudges or refuse to forgive others will have to pay the penalty for their unforgiving heart once  they die. That may be in purgatory which is a temporary punishment, or even in hell which is eternal.

Each of us should have a heart like God and happily forgive those who are sorry for that they has said or done.

 

 

 

Prayer

May the communion in your Sacrament

that we have consumed, save us, O Lord,

and confirm us in the light of your truth.

Through Christ our Lord.