Forgive us our trespasses

24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[ Matthew 18: 21-35 ]

   The reality of sins and sinners.

Enslaved by sin.

Sin is a rejection of God’s objective truth and God’s divine love. In reality, we are all sinners: like sheep, we have all gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way [Is 53: 6]. Since it is humanly impossible for us to save our own souls and pay the debts of our sins, we are in need of God’s grace, God’s help and God’s love.

   The reality of God’s love and mercy.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love [Psalm 145: 8]. There is no sin too great for God to forgive when we have hearts that are humble and contrite. Like the merciful father waiting for his prodigal son, God is always awaiting us to embrace us and to forgive us. St Francis de Sales even says that, “The slightest repentance in the world, as long as it is genuine, causes God to forget any kind of sin.”

God is infinitely gracious and merciful.

   The reality of forgiveness.

To err is human, to forgive is divine, and to forget is (holy) amnesia.

   (1) To forgive from the heart requires efforts of the will. To forgive from the heart is not going to be easy and it is definitely not instantaneous. To forgive from the heart can be a painful experience and a prolonged process. Human as we are, we do not have full control over our emotions especially when we are deeply hurt. But with God’s grace, God’s help and God’s love, we can and we will forgive those who have hurt us intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously. When we choose to forgive, we choose to let go of our anger and bitterness and let God touch us and heal us.

   (2) In The Lord’s Prayer, we pray that “… forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” The word ‘forget’ is not part of the prayer, but it is an integral part of the lived reality of forgiveness. To forget is to choose, by God’s grace, to live as if the hurt has never happened. The keywords here are ‘as if’. When the memory of the hurt (re)surfaces, which it will, we can choose either to consciously acknowledge it and move over it quickly, letting it dwindle away to insignificance, or to linger over it morosely, allowing it to fester and overwhelm us. No Christian should harbour grudge and bitterness. However, we must be clear that ‘to forget the hurt’ DOES NOT mean to write off the offence committed, to ignore the painful lesson learnt, to deny justice to the victim, to trivialize the sin, or to condone evil.

   (3) “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” [Lk 17: 3]. We are not saved without repentance [Mk 1: 15], and we are not forgiven unless we forgive [Mt 6: 14-15]. If we are sincerely seeking forgiveness from God, we must first forgive others. If we are merciful, we will receive mercy. Yes, it is never easy, and it is never instantaneous – Jesus knows! When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He pleaded with the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” [Lk 23: 34]

"I forgive you."

The Gospel reading this Sunday can be summed up in the words of C.S. Lewis: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in us.”

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “Lord Jesus Christ, let me know Your loving Heart.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Malaysia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

   [Note: This Gospel reflection was first published on Porta Fidei, Gospel Reflection, 13 Sep 2020.]