24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the gospel passage today, Jesus answered a question Peter asked about the number of times we’re obliged to forgive our neighbor by spinning a lengthy parable about a servant who owed a huge amount of money to his master, the king. After listening to his plea for leniency, the king wrote off his entire debt. Everybody knew that the king symbolized God, the great King. They understood that Jesus was teaching them God’s compassion and forgiveness were radical and boundless. But….the parable went on.
That same servant left the glow of the king’s chamber and bumped into a fellow servant who owed him a pittance. He beat him and had him dragged to prison because he couldn’t immediately repay the little he owed. I don’t know any Hebrew curses, but I’ll bet you that a bunch of them could be heard mumbled throughout the crowd as Jesus described the scene. But justice was eventually served when the king heard of the incident and handed that servant to the torturers until he repaid his debt to the king. (A cheer probably rose from the crowd.)
Jesus began the parable by saying, “The kingdom of God may be likened to…” In the kingdom, everyone is like God – loving, merciful, and, above all, forgiving.
Here we are, the followers of Jesus. We live in an unforgiving world, while we hope for the kingdom to come. We pray for its coming every day at the Eucharist. Still, the horrors of our many wars, the millions we’ve imprisoned, and the burning political hostilities that plague us leave us angry and vengeful. Sometimes, it seems we’re condemned to the torturers with the doors of the kingdom closed to us. As disciples of Jesus, we need to witness to the kingdom. Each of us needs to let go of resentment – to let compassion reign over justice – to free our hearts to forgive – to weep for our sins against each other – to heal our human family – to knock at the kingdom’s golden door – to stretch out our arms with Jesus and pray with him, “Father forgive them.”
Let Us Pray:
Father, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me. (Pray as a Mantra)
