September 17th 2023. The Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
GOSPEL: Matthew 18, 21-35
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel
GOSPEL: Matthew 18, 21-35
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.’
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
1. Forgiveness is the hardest thing a human can do, but it transforms our lives from destructiveness into growth.
This Gospel, which continues the theme of fraternal relationships that we already discussed last Sunday, allows us to enter into the mystery of the most complicated of acts that a person must perform on this earth: forgiving, knowing how to forgive. In fact, forgiveness is a central issue in our lives. Those who do not forgive, who do not reconcile, carry frightening burdens. Those who forgive, free themselves from their own and others' mistakes. They learn to grow from situations that previously were only destructive. Peter approaches Jesus and asks Him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Up to 7 times?" Peter has opened the door to a logic of openness here. There are people who don't forgive even once, let alone seven times. And Jesus responds to him, "I do not say up to 7, but 70 times 7". The phrase can be debated. "70 times 7", could mean seven times seventy, or perhaps seven multiplied by itself seventy times, which would be an astronomical number. We don't know exactly what we can assume regarding this number. Nevertheless, seven times seventy is already quite a lot.
2. Jesus tells a parable which helps to highlight the enormity of our debt before God. It is not something that we can repay with our own resources or efforts.
Do we have to forgive everyone seven times seventy? To explain this reality, Jesus presents us with a parable, the story of a debtor who owes 10,000 talents to his king. This man has an enormous debt. Our modern ear doesn't grasp the value of talents, but we are talking about a figure that knows no limits. It's interesting that the forgiven servant, right after being forgiven, seizes another person by the throat, someone who owes him a hundred denarii. One hundred denarii is a much smaller amount. It's not clear why this man is so violent and aggressive, immediately forgetting the forgiveness he just received. Because of this, we need to analyse the response the debtor gives to the king. He says, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." Knowing the size of the debt, it's absurd, because the enormity is so great that no time would suffice for its repayment. In the end, this attitude is quite common among people who have problems with debts. We are faced with a mentality that has not truly understood the greatness of its own error. The problem isn't that others just need be patient. The problem is with those who incur debts, and they need to deeply question themselves. It would be a significant prayer if one said here, "Forgive me for what I've done. Remove the debt." But this man doesn't say this! However, it's understandable on the part of the second debtor to say, "Have patience with me, and I will repay," as this second debt is actually quite modest in magnitude. It's credible that 100 denarii would be repaid, but it's not likely that 10,000 talents will be repaid.
3. We will not understand God’s forgiveness if we continue to think that we can put things right ourselves.
What does all this mean? There's something somewhat painful that we need to confront here. It's not true that we can recover easily from sins committed. We cannot be forgiven for the wrongs we have done, for the evil remains. Until we accept this painful note of our sin, we don't truly understand God's free forgiveness. Ultimately, deep down we tend to hold the intuition that we can put everything right if we try. This is precisely the idea some people have, those who ruin themselves with debts, thinking that if they try hard enough, they can set things right. But essentially, we all share this tendency to believe that if we make an effort, we can rid ourselves of the stain of our sin. It's not true. The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, and there was no other solution! It's not that if we tried harder, we wouldn't need Jesus Christ. It's not that if we were a bit better, a bit more organized historically, we could do without a Saviour. We are fundamentally poor and beggars. We are all debtors, as we say everytime we recite the Our Father.
4. Having the awareness of one's own debt as something forgiven, not by right, but by total grace, helps us to forgive others.
Having the perception of one's own debt as something forgiven, not by right, but by total grace, opens us to tenderness towards others' mistakes. Who am I to judge? If I think about my debts, who am I to demand payment from others for debts that are always and in any case much smaller than what I have with God? Because God knows my heart, and I know my life from the inside. And I know that, as much as I may appear pleasing to others, God knows my thoughts, knows the 10,000 talents I cannot repay. There is a way, the way of Mercy, as the Gospel of Luke says: "The one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Accepting a sad and painful note that makes our hearts bleed a little, accepting that we cannot pay our debts, leaving behind this illusion that if we try, we somehow manage to fix things, is a sacred necessity.
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