The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (Saint Matthew 18:23-35), Our Lord presents us with a parable of an unjust steward who refuses to reciprocate to his fellow servant the same mercy that he received himself from his Master.

As stewards deeply indebted to God, we have squandered and abused His gifts. Yet, when our consciences call us to account, we, like the servant in the parable, plead for mercy. And like the Master, God not only shows us mercy but also forgives our entire debt, giving us a fresh start.

However, the tragedy is that we also resemble the steward in refusing to forgive others; we hold grudges and refuse to forgive one another. This is entirely unacceptable. The Second of the Two Great Commandments is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. The prayer that Jesus taught us is to beg forgiveness from God in the measure that we forgive one another — "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." How often do we truly consider what we are saying as we pray the "Our Father?" Do we truly wish that God would treat us as we have treated others?!

We are not only commanded to love and do good to those who love us, but to go further and love our enemies. This is a challenging command, but one that we must strive to fulfill. It is the true test of our faith and our commitment to Christ's teachings, a challenge that should motivate us to act with courage and determination.

This is not a trivial matter. Our eternal salvation depends upon our loving and forgiving each other. We must love even those who make it almost impossible to love. This is true because we are the ones who are practically impossible to love. We have crucified Jesus by our sins. We have abused His love. Through our sins, we have called out with the Jews: "Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We have no king but Ceaser (this world)!" Through our sins, we have mocked Him and even spat upon Him. Yet, as Jesus hung upon the cross for the love of us, He prays: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

We are called by Jesus to imitate Him, to follow Him, to embrace our daily crosses, and deny ourselves and follow Him. There will always be those who are incorrigible, but we must never seek their destruction or damnation. We must always strive to seek and desire the conversion and salvation of sinners — even (or especially) our enemies.

This love of our enemies does not mean that we become passive and allow them to continue or even increase their wickedness. True love seeks to stop or at least hinder sins both within us and in others, including both friends and enemies. It is not true love when we condone evil in ourselves or our friends. We must be able to call out evil in ourselves and our friends. Then we are better able to call out evil in our enemies — not with hatred or revenge, but with compassion and love for their eternal souls.

Sometimes enemies will unleash a torrent of hatred, slander, and calumny against us. This is often overwhelming, and our first impulse is to reciprocate evil for evil or to try to justify ourselves. In this moment, it is good for us to reflect upon the actions of Jesus when He was falsely accused. He remained silent. Such things do not deserve a response. This silence unsettles the attackers as it is not what they were expecting from us. It takes two to fight, and if we refuse to engage with them, we do the most charitable (loving) thing that we can do for them in that moment. We do not return fire with fire, but we douse the fire of evil with the love of God and our neighbors.

When our neighbors lose their tempers and begin acting and speaking irrationally, the worst thing that we can do is to imitate them. The best thing that we can do is to remain calm and rational, but above all, motivated by compassion and love. Let us pray for those who have allowed demonic and irrational hatred to enter their hearts and minds. Let us forgive them even if they do not seek forgiveness. We have a splendid opportunity to pray with Jesus on the Cross: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." This moment becomes a great grace for us, even if our neighbor refuses the grace. Perhaps they will later, in a more rational frame of mind, cooperate with God's graces.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!

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