When I was in the parish, serving as parochial vicar, I used to go an hour before Mass to the Church, to be available for confessions. Once, a man I did not know came in and asked me if he could talk to me. He opened his heart to me, and he revealed how tortured he was for all the sins he had committed. He cried in what I sensed to be a very sincere remorse for his sins. I spoke to him extensively, encouraging him to rely on the love of God. I also told him that God’s mercy was infinite.
Immediately he told me that what made him suffer the most was to think and feel that he did not deserve the mercy of God, to which I answered that that is exactly what makes God’s mercy so sweet, that it is always undeserved and free! These words touched him, deeply! He started crying, and crying and he asked if I could hear his confession. He walked out of that confession a completely different person. A true encounter with the infinite, undeserved and unexplainable mercy of God was had. Indeed, as St. John Paul II so beautifully puts it in his Encyclical Dives in Misericordia: “Mercy is the greatest of the attributes and perfections of God” (Dives in Misericordia, 13).
Mercy
We can see this in today’s first reading, when Azariah, from the depth of the fiery furnace, calls on God’s mercy for his people. Having acknowledged the sins of the people, and having accepted that what they deserve is punishment, he appeals to the mercy and compassion God has always shown His people. He begs to God saying: “do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one.”
Moreover, he further asks God: “deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.” Also, the psalmist appeals to God’s infinite mercy, when he says, “remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your kindness are from of old,” or when he says, “Good and upright is the Lord; thus, he shows sinners the way.” This is the history of the people of Israel. If we read the Old Testament, we realize that the people constantly betray God to go to the idols of other nations; they grumble and complain about God; they disobey His commandments, and they do not trust Him. What is the answer of God always: MERCY!! God ALWAYS shows an undeserved, absolute, and unexplainable mercy to His people.
Always
Within this background, it is easy to understand the way Jesus answers Peter’s question about how often we are to forgive others, by saying “seventy-seven times,” which means: ALWAYS! Jesus Christ is the mercy of God made flesh, and he is revealing to Peter that, as disciples, we are called to treat our neighbor with the same mercy we receive from God. As God forgives everything always, also we are called to forgive everything always. However, a question arises: Do we?
If we are sincere, we must say that many times we don’t. Indeed, the parable that Jesus speaks in this Gospel illustrates that, very often, we are unaware of how much God has forgiven us. Therefore, we are not willing to forgive others. Every time I read this Gospel, I cannot but feel indignant at the guy who is forgiven so much, for not being willing to forgive so little. I am sure you all feel the same way.
However, if we are sincere and humble in the face of these words, we would be able to see that in this parable, the Lord is speaking about us. We are that man! How many times do we hold grudges? And we demand from people who, according to us “owe us?” We forget how much the Lord has forgiven us. We are quick to apply a double standard and to hold people accountable to us for their debt to us. We forget that the Lord has not held us accountable for a debt that we would have never been able to pay. This gospel constitutes a serious call to conversion and reflection. In Jesus Christ, the Lord has forgiven all of us a debt that was unpayable. Would it not be just and right that we would also forgive those who owe us a much lesser debt?
Gift of Light
Let us continue asking the Lord, in this time of Lent, for the gift of His light. And to be able to see the immense mercy He has had with us in our lives. Let us ask Him to send us His spirit. So that we may be ready to forgive our debtors, just as He has forgiven us our debts. In this way, we can continue to prepare to celebrate Easter in peace and communion with our neighbors.
