TODAY’S READINGS

Jesus reiterates this sentiment immediately after teaching the Our Father (Mt 6:7-15):

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (vv. 14-15)

“A God who forgives is a wonderful God. But if God, who is thrice-holy, has mercy on the sinner, how much more ought we to forgive others — we sinners, who know from our own experience the wretchedness of sin. No one on earth is perfect. Just as God loves us, even though they have defects, and forgive them. If we wait to love people who have no defects, we shall never love anyone. If we wait until others mend their ways or apologize, we will scarcely ever forgive them. But then we ourselves will never be forgiven. ‘All right: that person has behaved badly towards you. But, haven’t you behaved worse towards God?’ (Bl. J. Escriva, The Way, 686)” (The Navarre Bible: St Matthew, 76)

I was a bit surprised that most of my commentaries either said very little or nothing about these two verses. What has long impressed me about this short passage is that it seems to put an exclamation mark on the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus just taught. The Our Father has seven petitions, but none more challenging than the one having to do with forgiveness. It’s as if Christ, driving home the point, is saying: You heard me right: Forgiveness is mandatory. Do not expect God’s mercy on your judgment day if you were unable to extend mercy to others during the time I gave you on earth..

Consider The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt 18:21-35). Being “handed…over to the torturers”? Jesus, the Divine Physician, gives us some tough medicine, focusing on where it hurts, to raise our awareness of this tender spot so that we can take care of it and find healing.

If Jesus, the perfectly innocent one, can, from the cross, forgive His creatures of their brutality toward the God-Man, who are we sinners to hold back even under the most difficult circumstances. It is not easy to forgive, particularly when the offense is egregious, but it is what we must do. Let us pray — and never cease praying — to forgive.

God bless.