Tuesday March 9

Third Week of Lent

 

Forgive Us as We Forgive

 

Introduction

We don’t like too much—or not at all—to acknowledge it, but we have been forgiven a lot. Open, scandalous, upsetting sins… maybe not. Probably not. But scandalous in the sense of totally unexpected on the part of people who profess to be the sign of the Church, of Christ, of God… perhaps yes: antipathies, non-sharing, animosities, enmities nurtured for years, living side-by-side without genuine love and sharing, maybe yes… and to many or at least some the opposite of witnessing to what we profess to be, yes… Where is our forgiving others as God has forgiven us, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer?

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we consider ourselves your chosen flock,
the people who profess to be your sign of reconciliation.
God, how poor we are! How often we fail you
by forgiving by an act of condescension,
as if we did a great favor
to those who sought to be reconciled with us.
Lord, help us to forgive
the way and to the extent that you forgive us:
unconditionally and totally,
in the goodness of our hearts.
Give us this greatness of heart
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Dn 3:25, 34-43

Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:

“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,
Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,
To whom you promised to multiply their offspring
like the stars of heaven,
or the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins.
We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,
no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.
But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 25:4-5AB, 6 AND 7BC, 8-9

(6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R.  Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R.  Remember your mercies, O Lord.

 

Verse before the Gospel: Jl 2:12-13

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart;
for I am gracious and merciful.

 

Gospel: Mt 18:21-35

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.”

Intercessions

• That we may be patient with one another, as God has been patient with us, we pray:
• That we may forgive one another, as God has forgiven us, we pray:
• That we may keep loving one another, as God keeps loving us even when we have repeatedly hurt his love, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Merciful Father,
we welcome your Son
in these signs of bread and wine
as the Lord of forgiveness
who laid down his life for us.
May we, whom you call your chosen ones,
beloved and called to be holy,
be found ready to forgive willingly,
notwithstanding antipathies and hurt feelings,
that we may be to one another
the sign of your forgiveness
which goes beyond our human feelings,
as followers of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord, it is beautiful but hard
to be the body of your Son,
the sign of the forgiveness and life
that he brings to the world.
But give us the courage, notwithstanding and beyond
our all too human feelings, sympathies and antipathies,
to bring to all around us
your message of love, tolerance, peace and joy,
which you have given us here again
through the body and blood
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

We are people who have received forgiveness from the Lord, and, hopefully at times also from people. We should know also how to forgive, so that our praying in the Our Father may be truthful. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

When we are offended our spontaneous reaction is not forgiveness but resentment or anger especially when the damage has left deep wounds that do not disappear over time; some of those wounds sometimes last a lifetime. In these cases the natural reaction is to pay back, to avenge the pain that has been caused. This primitive instinct is what in history caused duels and endless struggles between peoples. Forgiveness does not come spontaneous.

We ask the Father to “forgive our debt” in prayer. The sins that we have committed do not represent all of our debt. Sins relate to the past and they are not infinite. They are only a small sign of the immense distance that separates us from the love of the Father. Our prayer, “Forgive us our debts” is not just about past mistakes, but it’s directed especially to the future. We grow in debt when we receive something from another person and he expects us to return it to him in due time.

What does God expect from us? His very own “compassion”! What God grants us in abundance is his love and compassion. He wants us to return it to or share it with our brother or sister without hesitation. He wants that we do not keep the brother or sister a slave of his past. It is his desire that we do not take his breath away while he desperately tries to rise up from the chasm. God asks us to help him seventy times seven, without excuses. The children of the Kingdom of God are “merciful as the heavenly Father” (Lk 6:36). If we are willing to accept this new logic, we will be willing to lose, to forget all our own rights just to see our brother happy again, peaceful and freed from his sin.

The last scene gives us shudders (vv. 31-35). The conclusion is puzzling: “So will my heavenly Father do with you, unless you sincerely forgive your brothers and sisters.”
Does the Lord repay therefore with the same coin those who are ruthless with their “debtors?” Such an interpretation would contradict the whole message of the parable that wishes to present a God who always forgives human transgressions. It would be a blasphemous interpretation to consider it as a description of the behaviour of the Father who is infinite love and mercy.
The evangelist is not describing what God would do in the end but the parable presents what God wants a person to do today.