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Our Sunday Reflection - September 17, 2023
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Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."
Matthew 18:21-22
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Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
Today’s readings remind us how important it is to forgive. More than that, they teach us to be forgiving people, showing mercy to all those who have wronged us, whether in matters great or small. After all, at the end of our lives we believe we will be completely reliant on God’s mercy to forgive our many sins, great and small. Let us resolve to forgive our neighbor, to heal our relationships, and to live lives of kindness and mercy.Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
The reading from Sirach sets the theme today, counseling us to forgive our neighbor as we pray that our own sins may be forgiven. We sing in the responsorial psalm of the Lord’s kindness and mercy. Paul preaches that in life and death we are the Lord’s. In the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable of a king who was moved with compassion to forgive a great debt. May today’s readings inspire us to forgive others as we seek forgiveness ourselves.Reflections
- Peter must have thought he was going overboard when he suggested that he would forgive the person who wronged him seven times. But seven times actually seems doable. Once a day for an entire week isn’t that hard. And after all, seven represented completeness. To complete the forgiveness process, if seven times was what it took, okay. But Jesus shocks Peter when he demands forgiving seventy-seven times. Who could possibly do that? But that’s the point. Forgiveness isn’t something that is tracked on a scorecard, with a certain number of boxes to fill in. The goal of forgiveness is reconciliation. Until that is reached, we need to keep trying, whether it takes seven times, seventeen times, seventy times, or whatever number of times. There is no limit, for your relationship with your brother or sister remains incomplete until you have reconciled.
- Forgiveness begins in the heart. Unfortunately, so do wrath and anger, which Sirach urges us to avoid. When we are wronged, especially when it hurts, especially when it has long-term consequences or even changes our lives completely, it is difficult for the heart to make a complete turn from anger to mercy. But, as doctors will say, we need to nurture a healthy heart. When we hug tightly wrath and anger, allowing them to fester into resentment or bitterness, we are unconsciously choosing to have an unhealthy heart. Forgiveness allows us to reconcile with the consequences of the action that hurt us as well as with the cause of that hurt. It allows us to heal the broken relationship with that person, with an apparently unfair world, and with a seemingly unjust God.
- Saint Paul can be of help. “We live for the Lord, and . . . we die for the Lord,” he tells the Romans (14:8). As God’s children, baptized in Christ, we belong to the Lord and so we live and we die for him. As Christians, we are called to look to Christ as a model of forgiveness. Let us make Christian not just a name but part of our very core, our heart.
Question of the Week
How do I see myself letting resentment or bitterness build up in my heart? Who do I need to reach out to and forgive?
-from Pastoral Patterns
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readings of the mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, September 17, 2023
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, September 17, 2023
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Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS -
Reflections on the readings
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