Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to saint Matthew 18, 21-19,1

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 the fellow servant 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 his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

To forgive from the heart

1. How often? This is the question Peter asks. How many times must we forgive? Where is the limit? When do you consider yourself merciful and when do you consider yourself a fool? Jesus talks about being merciful always. Your duty as a Catholic is to always forgive others.

2. The situation. In the Gospel, we see a man who has a debt so great that he and his family are at risk of slavery. Let me make it clear, when you hurt someone else, both you and your family are at risk. Pay close attention if you have made a mistake and if your actions have caused others in your family to suffer the consequences. The man’s debt is great, but he is forgiven. Your debt with God is great too, but He will always forgive you. You are called upon to do the same with others. Do not hold a grudge against people because you feel that forgiving is relieving them of pain. If you decide not to forgive them, you end up suffering more. Forgiveness heals.

3. Wicked servant.  We see another debtor who owed much less than the first one yet the servant whose debt had been forgiven sends this one to jail for an absurdity. Be careful because you too can end up like him, becoming a person with nothing in his heart, a wretched person who has no memory and forgets the opportunities he was once given, a miser who has such a hard heart that does not care about hurting others. Beware of being selfish and not caring for the well-being of others. To avoid being miserable, you must be compassionate. Truly forgive others from your heart. Forgive with your heart and not only with your words. This will free you of many burdens.

Never forget that something good is on the way!

God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.