24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
11 September 2011
First reading Ecclesiasticus 27:33-28:9
Resentment and anger, these are foul things,
and both are found with the sinner.
He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord,
who keeps strict account of sin.
Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you,
and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.
If a man nurses anger against another,
can he then demand compassion from the Lord?
Showing no pity for a man like himself,
can he then plead for his own sins?
Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment;
who will forgive him his sins?
Remember the last things, and stop hating,
remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments.
Remember the commandments, and do not bear your neighbour ill-will;
remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence.
Psalm: Psalm 102:1-4,9-12
Second reading Romans 14:7-9
The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Gospel Matthew 18:21-35
Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.
‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut
Though we are not the best of friends then, Cris and I were classmates from sophomore until our senior year in high school. In our first two years in college, we were on the same class most of the time. Later, we both took industrial engineering as our major. And because we were the only two people among our classmates who knew each other longer than the rest, we became good friends.
Both of us were active officers in our organization. One time during our fourth year in engineering, we had a conflict right in the middle of a big project. To make the long story short, we, the officers as well as our (Cris’ and mine) barkada (group of friends), felt that he abandoned us, leaving our project unfinished, and our organization in confusion. Of course, this was my version of the story.
We never saw each other eye to eye since then. Our class was even divided into two groups – his and mine. The relationships between members and followers of the two factions, though civil, were like the old cold war between America and U.S.S.R back then. This went on until the next school year, our final year. Projects were done one part by my group, the other part by his group. Educational trips were divided by his side of the bus and my side of the bus. But with the help of students who would rather not participate in our gap, we were still able to achieve several accomplishments during that school year.
A day before our graduation, just after the baccalaureate mass, I planned to invite a young lady from the lower year level to be my special guest on my graduation. But I did not want this to be the talk of the town while I was still officially a student and the president of our organization. So I decided to be discreet about it. I stayed around the campus until no one among my group was there to interrogate me on where I would be going after the mass.
When I thought I was all alone, Cris came, to my surprise. So, in our civil ways, we talked. We discussed about our future plans now that we are about to graduate. But instead of just talking about where to apply and how to look for jobs, I also told him about my most immediate plan, that is to go to the house of my special guest and invite her to my graduation. Talk about me and my big mouth. Well, despite what happened to me and Cris, I always knew what kind of person he was. And I trusted the old friendship we used to have.
To my surprise again, he offered to go with me to my muse’s house. Along the way and even after the visit, we talked about many things. We reminisced our high school days and yes, we discussed about girls. We even found out we liked the same girl at one point during our rift, but we were too busy not talking to each other that is why we didn’t have any clue.
At that very moment we knew our friendship was about to resurrect. Without talking about it, we knew right there and then that we were agreeing to bury the bad past and celebrate the good times. In fact, I really could not remember any more what the actual cause of our feud was or what his side of the story was that is why I cut the story short.
Jesus told us to forgive seventy times seven. Scholars say this means infinity during the biblical times. Some say we must forgive before we will be forgiven. Others say we must forgive because we ourselves have already been forgiven when Christ died on the cross. I am not an expert to say whether we need to forgive before we are forgiven or we need to forgive because we were also forgiven. But I know that forgiving does wonders both for the forgiver and the forgiven. One of these wonders is, it sets us free. It happened to me and Cris. I could only imagine how much more we had accomplished in our final year in college had we discovered this formula for spiritual freedom earlier.
Today, almost fifteen years after our graduation, Cris and I are still the best of friends. And we are like brothers now. Because once in our lives, one of us decided to stoop down in humility and swallow his pride. I know I was not the first to do it. But his humility was contagious that I immediately got infected.
And once we humbled ourselves, the doors to forgiveness opened up.
Lord Jesus, Thank You for teaching us the formula for freedom. May we always have the humility either to ask for forgiveness or to give one. Amen!
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