Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 09-17-17, Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 09-17-17 | Revised New American Bible

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The Gospel in a Slide Show

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Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for September 17, 2017:

“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’” (Mt 18:21-22) Forgiving someone who has hurt you – even siblings, parents, a spouse – can be a long process. Today, pray for the grace […]

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How Do I Forgive?

Pastor’s Column

24^th Sunday Ordinary Time

September 17, 2017

It is amazing how often Jesus insists that we forgive our neighbor for what he or she has done to us, and today’s dramatic gospel is no exception! (Matthew 18:21-35). Of course, what is implied here is that we all get offended by others at times, sometimes very deeply. We want to fulfill the gospel. How do we do this? Here are a few simple rules of forgiveness:

1. Forgiveness is not a feeling. Jesus isn’t commanding us to “like” our enemy, or to “feel good” about the person who hurt us. After forgiving, I may still have terrible feelings about the offender, but that does not mean I haven’t forgiven!

 

2. Forgiveness means not talking about the offender to everyone who will listen!

 

3. Forgiveness means being cordial toward the offender when we meet them, even doing a kindness to them if required. It does not mean we have to go out of our way to speak to them on a regular basis.

 

4. Forgiveness is an act of the will. When I pray or am reminded of my hurt, I will tell Jesus that I forgive this person because Christ forgives me. I choose to forgive because I am looking not at the offender but at Christ.

 

5. Jesus is not requiring you to forget. To remember is not the same as harboring unforgiveness.

                                                                        Father Gary

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Reflections from Scott Hahn

The Debt We Owe: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Readings:
Sirach 27:30-28:7
Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35

Mercy and forgiveness should be at the heart of the Christian life.

Yet, as today’s First Reading wisely reminds us, often we cherish our wrath, nourish our anger, refuse mercy to those who have done us wrong. Jesus, too, strikes close to home in today’s Gospel, with His realistic portrayal of the wicked servant – who won’t forgive a fellow servant’s debt, even though his own slate has just been wiped clean by their Master.

It can’t be this way in the kingdom, the Church. In the Old Testament, “seven” is frequently a number associated with mercy and the forgiveness of sins. The just man sins seven times daily; there is a seven-fold sprinking of blood for atonement of sins (see Proverbs 24:6; Leviticus 16). But Jesus tells Peter today that we must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven times. That means: every time.

We are to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (see Luke 6:36; Matthew 5:48). But why? Why does Jesus repeatedly warn that we can’t expect forgiveness for our trespasses unless we’re willing to forgive others their trespasses against us?

Because, as Paul reminds us in today’s Epistle, we are the Lord’s. Each of us has been purchased by the blood of Christ shed for us on the cross (see Revelation 5:9). As we sing in today’s Psalm, though we deserved to die for our sins, He doesn’t deal with us according to our crimes. The mercy and forgiveness we show to others should be the heartfelt expression of our gratitude for the mercy and forgiveness shown to us.

This is why we should remember our last days, set our enmities aside, and stop judging others. We know that one day we will stand before the judgment seat and give account for what we’ve done with the new life given to us by Christ (see Romans 14:10,12).

So we forgive each other from the heart, overlook each other’s faults, and await the crown of His kindness and compassion.

[Salvation]

Sep 16, 2017

24th Sunday: 70 x 7 x 7 x 7 . . .

"Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full."

Sirach 27 3- - 28:7

Rm 14: 7-9

Mt 18: 21-35

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091717.cfm

Albert Einstein famously said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” For a man of his reputation or for any inventor or scientist, who seemingly try variations on the same thing over and over again in order to test a theory, the results eventually may be constant failure or a sudden unexpected success.  Penicillin and its healing properties was unexpectedly discovered through the observed action of mold in a petri dish.  Yet, sooner or later we may feel a new approach is needed. 

However, in the case of what we hear in this Sunday Gospel from Matthew, Jesus and Peter engage in an interesting dialogue about forgiveness.  Peter surely noticed Jesus’ compassion and words of mercy toward the “sinner.”  The other apostles likewise must have been moved by Jesus’ non-judgmental and inclusive words.  So Peter poses a logical question to Jesus: “Lord, if my brother (sister) sins against me, how often must I forgive: As many as seven times?” In other words, what are the limits of forgiveness towards another and what situations might be so grievous that forgiveness would not be possible?

Jesus responds to Peter with another set of numbers which in a way is a slightly sarcastic response:  “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Peter’s numbers game is challenged by Jesus who implies that forgiveness is not meant to be a game of keeping score but a process of infinite reconciliation and mercy. The old saying: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me” is more based in retribution than in forgiveness.  Yet, most of us may find the tendency to feel that a kind of score card approach is better than doing the same thing over and over again while expecting the other to be changed.  How often can I forgive you?  How often can I say, “I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”  Isn’t that just taking advantage of a kind of forgiveness bank account with unlimited funds? 

In order to drive the point home, which is that we must be people of forgiveness who reflect the infinite, 70 x 7 mercy of God, he tells Peter a parable with another set of exaggerated numbers - that of the forgiven, unforgiving, and punished servant. 

Jesus begins with a favorite phrase: “That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to . . .” This favorite of Jesus image about a kingdom applies to those who live by his Gospel values. In the “kingdom” where my morality is expressed, this is how people will live together, how society will structure itself according to God’s desire and moral interaction.

A debtor comes before a king who demands repayment for an debt so enormous that it is beyond what anyone could repay: “a huge amount” equal to his own freedom, his wife and children, and all his property.  What would be left?  Nothing – every loved one, every bit of material possession and security he has in this world.  Everything! The image is so extraordinary that it would be impossible to imagine how anyone could run up that kind of indebtedness.  Yet, this story makes a point about anything we may bring to God that would need to be forgiven or that we might imagine others need to be forgiven for. 

That king is moved by compassion towards the pleading of the indebted servant: “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.”  Knowing this servant could never do so, he forgives the entire indebtedness and lets him go!  One extreme to the other indeed but the compassion of the king was more than the indebtedness owed: “70 x 7 …”

Yet a turn of events takes place and that now released servant encounters fellow servant who owes him much, much less.  He pleads for forgiveness in the same words that his fellow servant did but receives a cold, unforgiving heart instead.  The one forgiven was not changed by the forgiveness he was offered and still subscribed to the original keeping score approach:  “7 times?”

The king hears of this sad affair, calls in his former servant and furiously says: “I forgave you your entire debt . . . should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”  The axe falls and the formerly forgiven servant now finds himself imprisoned in debtor’s prison for not extending the same compassion as he experienced.  The moral is clear and undeniable:  As God has done for us, so must we do no less, the same towards one another.  The King in the story is God and we are the servants. 

Think for a moment about some person, some incident or event in your life that caused you pain, anger, disappointment and a desire to fight back with equal fury.  I can think of more than one.  While how you reacted then is now in the past.  More importantly how have you reacted since or in light of this Gospel, how will you now react? 

The book of Sirach (Wisdom) is our first reading and begins: “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.”  Forgiveness is not an easy process sometimes.  Not only we were hurt but we also experienced a great injustice.  I want to repair that injustice by some sort of equal hurt inflicted upon them.  So, we may be holding on tight to past hurts.  How do I forgive or better yet should I forgive? 

Well, the Gospel this Sunday answers that question by saying “yes.”  If I find that my feelings won’t let me do that easily, then I must take the event, the person to prayer.  How long will I stay angry about whatever was done – 5 years, 10 years, 30, 40?  Sadly some people, when hurt, never forgive.  They will simply write off that person for the rest of their life and be perpetually resentful and angry.  That isn’t forgiveness of what Jesus speaks of today. 

So much of what we need to ask forgiveness for is miniscule in comparison to the example Jesus used in the Gospel today.  But the point is that as God extends his mercy to us – we can do no less towards each other.  How many times have you gone to confession for example and confessed the same sins over and over again?  Is God tired of hearing that?  Apparently not since Jesus states we must forgive, thereby God forgives – 70 x 7 times. 

If I bring the person to prayer in my mind, before the Tabernacle even I would recommend as I have had to do myself, and by name present that person to Christ in the Eucharist.  Simply bring their name to prayer for forgiveness and allow the grace of God to work in your heart.  You may be surprised as to how much freedom you will feel. 

Forgive from your heart so that you will find peace in your heart.  You may never see the person again but at least you wish them no harm and have remembered them before God. 

What may seem very hard or nearly impossible or maybe the harm I have caused towards another is what I am feeling, is not beyond the mercy of God.  His forgiveness is a call to our personal conversion, our change of heart and new direction for our life. 

As our responsorial psalm reminds us this week:  “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.”  We pray for it all the time:  “. . . forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespass against us . . .”

Einstein felt doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results was insane.  Yet, Christ-like forgiveness over and over again only makes us more like him. 

Look upon us, O God,

Creator and ruler of all things, 

and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, 

grant that we may serve you with all our heart. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you

 in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)

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Regnum Christi

September 17, 2017 – Unlimited Forgiveness

17 Sep 2017

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Father David Daly, LC

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe that you came into this world to redeem sinners. I hope in you, and in your power to transform my soul, by your grace, from sinfulness to holiness. Lord, I love you and offer you the longings of my heart to put you truly first in my life. I want to love you with all my mind, heart, soul and strength.

Petition: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to forgive my brothers and sisters from the heart.

1. Seventy-seven Times: Jesus surprises Peter with this symbolic response. He surprises us, too, with the depth of his mercy. We, as Peter, think ourselves generous when we forgive our neighbors generously — seven times. But Jesus forgives in an unlimited manner — “seventy-seven” times –– and teaches us to do the same. This parable teaches us about God’s unlimited mercy for each one of us. He calls us to imitate him in this characteristically Christian virtue.

2. Have Patience with Me: The slave who owes the master ten thousand talents represents each one of us before God. We owe everything to God and without his help we are totally unable to make up for our sins. Yet God in his mercy has chosen to forgive us. In receiving God’s patient love, our lives have been changed. We have new life because of Jesus Christ!

3. You Wicked Slave: Despite the great love we have received, sometimes we can be unforgiving toward our neighbors, just like the slave whose debt was pardoned. The forgiven slave becomes a wicked slave the moment he does not “forgive as he has been forgiven.” How easy it is to forget God’s love when we feel the pressure to “produce”! We become like that wicked slave, forgetting God and demanding a purely human justice from those around us — family, friends and business associates.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, your lesson of forgiveness is very clear in this parable. You desire followers who imitate you, who will “love one another as you have loved them.” Teach me this humility and gratitude that will lead me to patiently pardon all of those around me.

Resolution: Lord, today I promise to forgive at least one person who has offended me.

[Salvation]

Extending Mercy in Forgiveness

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Just about everyone can recite the Lord’s Prayer from memory. That’s precisely the problem, though. We often rattle it off without really thinking about what we are saying.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Whenever we pray this line, we are asking God to forgive us exactly in the same way as we forgive those who hurt us. In other words, if we are harboring unforgiveness in our hearts as we say this prayer, we are calling a curse down upon ourselves.

Let’s face it. We are all in desperate need of the mercy of God. But time and time again, the Word of God makes clear that the greatest block to his mercy is resentment. In the Old Testament, the book of Sirach (27:30-28:7) tells us how wrath and anger, cherished and held tight, are poisons that lead to spiritual death.

Jesus thinks this is so important that he includes a reminder of this lesson in the central prayer that he teaches to his disciples. And to drive the point home, he tells us the parable of the merciless servant, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (18:21-35). As we listen to the story, we are incensed at the arrogance and hard-heartedness of someone who is forgiven a huge debt yet immediately throttles the neighbor who owes him a fraction of the amount he himself once owed. Incensed, that is, until we realize the story is about us. For all of us who have ever nurtured a grudge are guilty of exactly the same thing.

Bringing up this issue is rather uncomfortable because we all have been hurt by others. Many have been hurt deeply. Think, for example, of the widows and orphans of September 11 and other acts of terrorism. Is it wrong to have feelings of outrage over such crimes? Does forgiveness mean that we excuse the culprit and leave ourselves wide open to further abuse?

Not at all. First of all, forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling. It is rather unlikely that the Lord Jesus, in his sacred yet still human heart, had tender feelings of affection for those mocking him as his life blood was being drained out on the cross. But he made a decision, expressed in a prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 22).

In other words, there was no vindictiveness, no desire to retaliate and cause pain, suffering and destruction to those who delighted in causing him pain. Such desire for destructive vengeance is the kind of anger that is one of the seven deadly sins. Rather, Jesus prayed to the Father for their good even as they caused him harm.

Did Jesus ever experience anger against those who sought his life? Absolutely. Righteous anger is the appropriate response to injustice. It is meant to give us the emotional energy to confront that injustice and overcome it. Recall how livid Jesus was in the face of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, because it was blocking the access of others to his life-giving truth. But notice as well that he overturned the money-changer’s tables, not their lives.

Forgiveness does not mean being a doormat. It does not mean sitting passively by while an alcoholic or abusive family member destroys not only your life but the lives of others. But taking severe, even legal action does not require resentment and vindictiveness. Pope John Paul II did not request the release of the man who shot him. But note that he visited him in prison to offer him forgiveness and friendship. In so doing, stunned not only the assailant, but the whole world.

This is offered as a reflection upon the readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, liturgical cycle A (Sirach 27:30–28:7), Ps. 103, Ro 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35). It appears here with the permission of the author.

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Scripture Speaks: Forgiving Your Brother

Gayle Somers

Today, Peter asks Jesus how many times he has to forgive a brother who sins against him. Jesus tells him to forget the math. Why?

Gospel (Read Mt 18:21-35)

In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus instructed the apostles on how to handle problems that would arise in His Church when brother sinned against brother. Today, Peter asks the question that cuts to the heart of what makes Jesus’ teaching so difficult: How many times do I have to forgive a brother who keeps sinning against me? What an honest question! Peter wants to put a limit on forgiveness, because as we well know, nothing makes us angrier, more frustrated, or more disgusted than having someone wrong us over and over with the same offense. Whatever we have in the way of patience, compassion, or tolerance gets completely spent on the repeat offenders in our lives. As Peter listens to Jesus describe the long, drawn-out process of correcting a sinner (read Mt 18:15-20), he wants to make sure that the sinner doesn’t get treated too leniently. Seven “second” chances seem like enough, seven being the number that represented fullness to the Jews. Was he prepared for the answer?

“I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Did Peter’s heart sink? “Seventy-seven times” was Jesus’ way of saying, “Don’t bother counting.” What? How contrary to human nature this is! So many objections rise up in us: “Not fair! What am I, a doormat? How can this be good for anyone?” Jesus knows how foreign this kind of forgiveness is to us, so He illustrates why it is necessary in the kingdom of Heaven He is building on earth, His Church, with a parable.

A king was settling debts owed to him by his servants. The first debtor to appear before him was one who owed him “a huge amount.” More accurately, the amount was “ten thousand talents,” representing about 2700 years worth of work. It was a debt that could never be repaid in the servant’s whole lifetime, so the king requires his whole life from him: “his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.” The servant’s debt was so large that he would have to forfeit everything, with no hope of ever being free from it.

Realizing his predicament, the servant falls down before the king, paying him respect, and asks for patience (interestingly, not for mercy). He also makes a rash promise: “I will pay you back in full.” This response from the servant, both his humility and his desire to set things right, if only the king will be patient, moved the king to compassion. He “let him go” and “forgave him the loan.” It wasn’t reduced to a manageable size, nor was the servant jailed briefly to teach him a lesson. In an amazing act of mercy, not patience, the king wiped everything away. The servant had a fresh start in life, completely free from indebtedness.

As we read on, we can see for ourselves how inappropriately outrageous it was for this servant to attack a fellow servant who owed him much less than the debt he’d been forgiven. The “smaller amount” was about three months wages, easily repaid if the fellow servant got the patience he requested. The forgiven servant refused and put his fellow servant in prison for repayment. News of this got back to the king, and the forgiven servant had to forfeit all he had received through the king’s mercy. Jesus ends this story with a solemn warning: “So will My Heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

We understand from this that our Heavenly Father has forgiven us much more than we will ever have to forgive anyone who sins against us. If, at the end of our lives, we have not forgiven those “who trespass against us,” as we say in the Our Father, then we prove ourselves to be outsiders to the kingdom of Heaven and not interested in living in its light. In the exaggerated drama of the parable, we can see what hardness of heart looks like and the ultimate price we will pay for it. Even a casual reading of this parable should put us on alert to follow Jesus’ advice and toss our forgiveness calculators. However much we need God’s forgiveness of our sins becomes the measure of how much we must offer it to others.

Possible Response: Lord Jesus, I surely need Your help to quit counting when I forgive others.

First Reading (Read Sirach 27:30-28:7)

The Book of Sirach is a book of Hebrew wisdom, probably written about 200-175 B.C. We can easily see how much of this wisdom appears in the what Jesus taught His disciples about forgiveness: “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” Even before the appearance of Jesus, the Jews knew that anyone who needs God’s mercy cannot refuse one who needs it from him. So, Jesus’ teaching was not new, but what was new was the spectacle of the Cross. In His Passion, Jesus proved forever what God’s forgiveness of sin cost Him; He willingly paid the price. His demonstration of loving forgiveness dwarfs anything required of us by the sins of others. In addition, the gift of His own Spirit now makes it possible for us to “think of the commandments, hate not [our] neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.”

Possible response: Heavenly Father, forgive me when I so easily look for faults in others. Wisdom tells me to be blind to them.

Psalm (Read Ps 103:1-4, 9-12)

This psalm is a magnificent song of praise for the unfathomable mercy of God. It establishes the theme that the Gospel reading elaborates: “The LORD is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion.” In particular, the psalmist gives us an exquisite poetic description of what God has done with the debt we owe Him because of our sin: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He put our transgressions from us.” Our response to God’s great kindness should be as the psalmist’s: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” If we remember God’s mercy to us, the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel, although it stretches us, makes all the sense in the world.

Possible Response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read Rom 14:7-9)

In the epistle, St. Paul explains why lack of forgiveness for others simply won’t work in the Christian life: “None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself…whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (RSV translation). Our lives, bought with the price of Christ’s own life, are not our own. If we are His servants, then we are like the servant in the Gospel parable. We have been forgiven and set free from our debt of sin. We are to live as true servants of our King, extending to others what we have received. That is what establishes the kingdom of Heaven on earth, where Christ is “Lord of both the dead and the living.”

Possible Response: Lord Jesus, You bought me out of mercy. May I become a vessel of that mercy to others.

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All Issues > Volume 33, Issue 5

<< Sunday, September 17, 2017 >>

24th Sunday Ordinary Time

Sirach 27:30�28:9
Romans 14:7-9
View Readings

Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12
Matthew 18:21-35
Similar Reflections

FALSE FORGIVENESS

"My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart." �Matthew 18:35

Many Christians don't forgive others because they have been deceived into thinking they have already forgiven. This deception about forgiveness results in our being handed over to the torturers (Mt 18:34) and not being forgiven ourselves (Mt 6:12). Therefore, we are doomed if we are deceived about having forgiven.

One of the best indicators of false forgiveness is anger. Before and after the writer of Sirach commands us to forgive (Sir 28:2), he teaches us that "wrath and anger are hateful things" (Sir 27:30) and that anger prevents us from being healed (Sir 28:3, 5). We may not even feel angry with the persons who have hurt us, yet anger in any area may be an indication of unforgiveness toward someone.

Another indication of false forgiveness is not being very aware of the impossibility of human beings forgiving. The old saying is absolutely true: "To err is human; to forgive is divine." We cannot forgive; only God can forgive. Humanly speaking, we have a bear-hug on anger and unforgiveness (see Sir 27:30). We will never break this hold by our own power. By the Lord's power, however, we can forgive everyone for everything.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any false forgiveness in your life. Ask the Spirit to pour out His love in your heart (Rm 5:5) so you have His power to forgive.

Prayer: Father, may forgiveness mean for me what it means for You.

Promise: "None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die we die as His servants." �Rm 14:7-8

Praise: Praise the risen Jesus, our Peace! (Eph 2:14)

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