“Doing away with mathematical countings in pardoning others, knowing that we ourselves have received this favour from the Lord!”
(Based on Dan 3:2, 11-20 and Mt 18:21-35 – Tuesday of the 3rd Week in Lent)
An incident is said of a worker named Richard Weaver (He would later on become a popular preacher of the Word) who was working in a mine.
During the course of the work, unintentionally, he hit a fellow-miner.
The fellow-miner, however lost his cool and retorted: “I feel like giving you a hard smack on your face!”
“Very well”, said Weaver, “If that will do any good, you may do it.”
The man struck him.
Weaver turned to him the other cheek.
The man struck again.
This was repeated five times; and when Weaver presented his cheek for the sixth time, the man turned away, cursing.
Weaver cried after him: “The Lord forgive you, for I do; and the Lord save you!”
The following morning, as work started, this man was the first person that Richard Weaver met.
As Weaver approached him, he burst into tears.
“Oh Richard” he cried as he knelt before him, “do you really forgive me?”
Richard Weaver helped him get up…
As he rose… a changed and transformed man!
That’s the Power of Forgiveness!
The Gospel of the Day presents this Mighty and Power Message of Forgiveness…
… Forgiveness that goes beyond the rules of mathematics!
A common observation that is noticed among many children, is the fear and apprehensions of some subjects in the school or college.
Among these subjects, one which would top the list of subjects which causes tension and undue worry, is certainly, Mathematics!
Many have a fear of this subject which deals with figures and numbers.
Many have an aversion to this subject which deals with digits and numerals.
Well, it’s not known or certain whether Our Lord had any such aversion or fear or apprehension or even dislike for this subject, Mathematics!
But one thing is for certain…
… that the Lord sure loved to keep out Mathematics when dealing with important spiritual dimensions.
… that the Lord indeed would transgress the norms of Mathematics when engaged in vital spiritual aspects.
The Gospel of the Day is an exhibition of this aspect of the Lord going beyond mathematical boundaries in dealing with the beautiful virtue of forgiveness.
The passage begins with the Lord’s chief and one-of-the-first apostles Peter, raising a query to his Master, ” Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Mt 18: 21)
It was probably a genuine doubt of Peter, which arose from his own personal experiences.
He must have had some difficulties in forgiving, out of his wavering temperament, perhaps!
But he now puts forward to Jesus a doubt as to what should be the limit of one’s forgiveness.
Peter sought to know the exact boundaries that one must limit oneself, while forgiving.
He wanted clear-cut rules to define the maximum threshold and frontiers of generosity in pardoning.
But the Lord replies firmly, “I say to you, not seven times, but seventy seven times” (Mt 18:22)
The Lord does away with the mathematical rules in forgiveness!
The Lord does not confine to the mathematical stipulations in forgiveness!
“Seventy seven times” would refer a number, unlimited and uncountable!
The frontiers for how many times to forgive are done away with…
The boundaries for how many times to forgive do not hold good…
As the Lord spoke these words to Peter, the apostle would himself have recalled…
“Once beside the sea of Galilee, when I encountered the Holy Master, I realized that I was drowning in the waters of sin… and I had asked pardon from the Lord.
Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man (Lk 5:8)”
These words of the Lord would have again echoed in the ears of Peter, later on, after the resurrection of Jesus….
Once again, beside a Sea… this time, the Sea of Tiberius, Peter experienced the forgiving power of the Lord in accepting back, though he had betrayed Him three times (Jn 21: 15-18)
Many times he had sinned against the Lord…
Many times he had caused pain and ache to the Lord…
Many times he had abandoned and betrayed the Lord…
But every time, the Lord forgave, wholeheartedly!
The Lord was truly the Master, “who practised what He preached”
The Lord was truly the Master, “who forgave unconditionally and without any limits”
This Lord, today seeks to impress on us too, this same attitude of forgiveness.
The teaching on forgiveness, is most certainly easy said than done!
To forgive….especially to forgive repeatedly, is certainly no easy task…
But it would require a deeper experience of the Unconditional Love of the Lord and our own determination, along with His grace, to reach out in forgiveness and pardon to our constantly erring brothers and sisters!
Are we ready to cast away mathematical limitations in forgiving, and extend the mercy of the Lord to others?
Are we ready to do away with mathematical countings in pardoning others, knowing that we ourselves have received this favour from the Lord?
God Bless! Live Jesus!
Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism:
PERSEVERANCE IN FAITH AND FAITH AS THE BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE
Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man.
We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience…
… by rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.
To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God
We must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope…
… and rooted in the faith of the Church.
Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. >> Then we shall see God “face to face”, “as He is”.
So faith is already the beginning of eternal life
When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror…
… it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy! (CCC # 162-163)
Reflection Capsules 