The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath.

It is twice blessed _

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."

(William Shakespeare)

Just before Our Lord gave the parable in today's Gospel there is a question from St. Peter about how often he should forgive his brother. Our Lord says not seven times but, seventy times seven. That is, as many times as needed.

To illustrate this forgiveness we are given today's parable showing us that the Kingdom of Heaven is governed by mercy.

God is all merciful. He has given us everything that we have and even all that we are. He forgives us as often as we are truly repentant and come humbly to Him in the sacrament of Penance. He forgives great amounts just as easily and quickly as he forgives small amounts. The only obstacle to receiving and experiencing His mercy is our own self-will and pride.

Once we have been forgiven by God we are truly forgiven. Let us not try to take the parable too literally when we see that the master forgave the debt but, then recalled the man and handed him over to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. God does not deal with us in this manner. We may observe here that in parables, diverse things are only ornamental to the parable itself; and a caution and restriction is to be used in applying them. God will not revoke a pardon once granted; for this would be contrary to His infinite mercy, and His works are without repentance.

It means that God will not pardon, or rather that He will severely punish the ingratitude and inhumanity of the man, who, after having received from God the most liberal pardon of his grievous transgressions refuses to forgive the slightest offence committed against him by his neighbor, who is a member not to mention a son of his God.

The ingratitude may justly be compared with the 10,000 talents, as every grievous offence committed against God, exceeds in an infinite degree, any offence against man. This forgiveness must be real, not pretended; from the heart and not in word and appearances only; sacrificing all desire of revenge, all anger hatred and resentment, at the shrine of charity.

How often have we prayed (in the Our Father) that God will forgive us as we have forgiven our neighbor? Do we ever stop to think about what we are saying? We are asking God to show mercy to us as we have shown mercy to our neighbors. To be merciful to the same extent; and in the same measure as we are. This is a foolish request for most of mankind because there are so few who practice true mercy or have true charity. There is nothing wrong with the prayer because Our Lord Himself has given it to us. The problem lies in our unwillingness to have charity and therefore mercy for our fellow men.

When God shows His mercy to us we see that He holds nothing back. His grace flows most gently and easily. And, those who correctly receive His mercy are eternally grateful. Men are saved and God is honored. Mercy is truly twice blessed. But, this divine mercy must be more than twice blessed because God expects us to turn around and express the mercy we received from Him to our neighbors, and they in turn are expected to express their appreciation by showing mercy to those around them. These acts of love and mercy should theoretically be spreading like wild-fire throughout the world, but it is not. On the contrary what we see before us today is a wild-fire of suspicion, hatred and revenge.

We live in a world that terrorizes people in the "attempt" to fight a war and end "terrorism" forever. Maybe one can fight fire with fire and stop the fire (when there is nothing left to burn), but the best weapon against fire is its opposite: water. The best weapon against hatred is love; not more hatred. The best weapon against suspicion is trust. The best weapon against revenge is forgiveness. The best weapon against suffering and misery is mercy.

To put some order back into society and this world we all need to seriously consider the lessons given in the parable from today's Gospel. If we truly are what we claim to be: Christians who love and follow Christ, then we must begin to have a different mindset than the world around us. We must love God first and foremost, and then we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And thus, we must be as merciful to our neighbors as we wish God to be merciful to us.

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