MERCY IS THE REASON TO FORGIVE

Sunday - 24

Why forgive? If you have been hurt so bad, if you have been betrayed by someone you trusted, if your love was ridiculed and mocked, if you suffer because of someone’s else wrong, the question is understandably “why forgive?”

Life is unfair in many ways. Good people suffer while bad people prosper. Good is ignored while evil is extolled. To insulate your self from this delirious enigma, you must be strong. You must be unyielding. You must seek out revenge. So why forgive?

The gospel today tells us the reason why forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is not about weakness. Forgiveness is not about defeat. Forgiveness is not amnesia of past experiences.

Forgiveness is about mercy. God in his mercy has initiated the process of forgiveness. Jesus speaks about a master who in his mercy forgave the huge debt of his servant. He did not think of any gain for himself. He only thought of the welfare of his servant and his family. He wanted him to be free and to have peace. The master’s mercy shone in forgiveness.

But another mystery was at work here. The forgiven man finds a fellow servant who owes him a mere pittance of the debt from which he was absolved. But this forgiven man finds no mercy in his heart towards his fellow servant. He threatens him, pressures him and sends him to prison.

This is what happens when a person who receives mercy does not feel the impact of the gift he has received. He does not allow that mercy to influence the way he deals with others.

This is what happens to us when we, too, forget how kindly and gently God has forgiven us. How often should I forgive? This is our tendency – the inclination to count, to put a limit to our kindness towards each other.

Does God not forgive you many, many times? Does he not answer your prayer: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy? Don’t you value the experience of liberation in every Confession. If so, why is it so difficult to forgive another who has offended you much less than we you done to God?

It becomes difficult to forgive if we forget how merciful God has been to us.

Is there someone you need to forgive today? No, not from the mind; not from the lips, but from the heart. God forgives you your sins, so that you can extend the same mercy to others. Ask the Lord for the grace to remember the many times he has embraced you in your weakness. Ask him for the grace to be able also to do the same to another person today.

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