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TUESDAY IN THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT READINGS AND COMMENTARY: THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT (Mt 18:21-35).

TUESDAY IN THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT READINGS AND COMMENTARY:
THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT
(Mt 18:21-35).

TUESDAY IN THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT
MASS READINGS

READING I
Dn 3:25, 34–43
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud: “For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant. Do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one, To whom you promised to multiply their offspring like the stars of heaven, or the sand on the shore of the sea. For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, or thousands of fat lambs, So let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
 
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O Lord, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O Lord,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
With all your heart turn to me for I am tender and compassionate.
 
GOSPEL
Mt 18:21–35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew (with permission)

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

  • Peter’s question and, particularly, Jesus’ reply prescribe the spirit of understanding and mercy which should govern Christians’ behavior with regards to those who offend them.
  • In Hebrew the figure of seventy times seven means the same as “always” (cf. Gen 4:24). As St. John Chrysostom wrote: “Therefore, our Lord did not limit forgiveness to a fixed number, but declared that it must be continuous and for ever” (Hom. on St Matthew, 6).
  • Here also we can see the contrast between man’s ungenerous, calculating approach to forgiveness, and God’s infinite mercy.

‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

  • The parable of the unforgiving servant clearly shows that we are totally in God’s debt: all we are and have, comes from God.
    • A talent was the equivalent of six thousand denarii.
    • A denarius is a working man’s daily wage.
    • Hence, ten thousand talents, or 60,000 denarii (equivalent to roughly 181 years of wages) an enormous sum of money, gives us a clear idea of the immense value attaching to the pardon we receive from God, and which we must also give to our neighbor:
  • Overall, the parable teaches us that we must always forgive our brothers, and must do so wholeheartedly, just as the master (God the Father) forgave his servant.
  •  “Force yourself, if necessary, always to forgive those who offend you, from the very first moment. For the greatest injury or offence that you can suffer from them is as nothing compared with what God has pardoned you” (St. Josemaria, The Way, 452).

Dear brethren in Christ, do we bear grudges, harbor resentment or hatred in our heart towards somebody?
 Let us ask Our Lord Jesus Christ to make our love for God real enough to manifest itself in our willingness to forgive those who have offended us, no matter what it takes. After all, isn’t this the path Christ showed to us and to which He calls us to embark on? Only when we decide to be forgiving shall we live His life and live our life for Him (cf. Rom: 4:7-9), for pardoning is what makes us humans, divine.
  • In the Lord’s Prayer we always ask the Father to: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.
    • The forgiveness we ask of God is linked with the forgiveness we give to others.
    • In this way, by forgiving those who offend us, we are imitating and living in our lives the inestimable mercy of God, who is “is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion (Resp. psalm).”
  •  “Let us forgive, and we shall be forgiven. Let us have mercy on others, and we shall feel that  mercy of God, who, when he forgives, also ‘forgets.’” (Pope Francis)

A great day ahead. Stay safe and God bless, Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

SEE AS WELL:
POPE FRANCIS ON THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT HERE.

VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: DO YOU PRAY FOR THE ONE WHO HAS HURT YOU?

Today’s liturgical readings are all about forgiveness. In the first, three young men – Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah – were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to abandon their religion. The angel of God led them out of that furnace unharmed. Azariah begs the Lord to forgive the people who put them into such an agony. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable about a servant who owed the king a huge sum of money. The servant pleads for more time to settle his obligation. Another servant begs the first servant for time, as well, to pay off his debt.

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