Called to be Ambassadors of Divine Mercy-HOMILY FOR THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

Called to be Ambassadors of Divine Mercy-HOMILY FOR THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A 

Sirach 27:30-28:7; Ps. 103; Rom.14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35

Called to be Ambassadors of Divine Mercy

In the first reading, we read: _Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray_ . In the gospel reading, we read: _so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive from your heart_ . On the literally level, both quotations give the impression that if a man does not forgive his neigbhour, God will not forgive him/her either. In as much as the intention is to urge man to imbibe the Christian attitude of forgiveness, it cannot be the case that the forgiveness of God rests on the forgiveness of man. That would mean that man’s perfection is the motivation for God’s goodness. Divine action is dependent on nothing else but on God himself. Therefore, the dispersion of the Grace of God cannot rest on the perfection of man; if it were so, God will never be gracious to man because man is not perfect.

The liturgy of today is rather presenting us with the forgiveness of God as the model for man. To learn how to forgive is something that is done from within. In saving us, God reconciled us to Himself through his Son. Even after that, he continues to forgive us our trespasses and does not treat us according to our faults. He does not bless us or answer our prayers on the condition that we are perfect. He does not condemn us when we sin deliberately or when we approach the confessional without a firm purpose of amendment. He is not afraid that we take his mercy for granted. He forgives us still.

God’s mercy is perfect and so worthy of emulation. The art of forgiving others begins from understanding and appreciating the forgiveness we have received from God. In the gospel reading, the servant whose master forgave him ten thousand talents, did not understand what the master did for him. This servant represents us at those times when we go for confession without regret for our sins; in fact, with plans to commit them again. Such attitude deprives us from experiencing the joy of forgiveness. Confession becomes for us a mere ritual exercise devoid of spirituality. Little wonder in the parable of today, nothing was said about the servant leaving the master’s presence with joy. For this servant, he was tactic enough to have emotionally blackmailed his master into forgiving him. He must have left the master’s presence saying to himself: “I’m a sharp guy”.

Because he did not experience the joy of forgiveness, it was totally impossible for him to share it with another servant who owned him a far lesser amount. You cannot give what you do not have. Even when his fellow servant begged him for more time to pay the debt, this unforgiving servant refused probably because he saw this fellow servant’s appeal as an attempt to emotionally deceive him as he had done to his master. For this unforgiving servant, he was a hero; the one who has deceived another but could not be deceived.

Since this unforgiving servant did not appreciate the forgiveness of his master, it therefore means he never really saw himself as indebted to the master. His delay in paying back his master may not be because he was not having the money to pay back but because he thought that in one way or the other, he would escape paying the debt. This could have made him to also perceive his fellow servant as having the money but not willing to pay back. If not, how did he expect the fellow servant to pay him from prison?

The point here is this: for us to be able to forgive like God himself, we must acknowledge our sins against God, so that we are able to appreciate the forgiveness of God towards us. A Christian who cannot sincerely say “through my fault, through my most grievous fault”, will not find any reason to sing: “thank you for saving me, thank you my Lord”. Therefore, the key to forgiving others is possessing the spirit of humility and gratitude. You cannot forgive seventy times seven if you do not sincerely approach the confessional seventy times seven times. The mercy that God wants us to show to others is the mercy that we have received from him. That explains the statement: “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”

So, underneath the clarion call to forgive others, today’s liturgy invites us to acknowledge our sins and seek God’s forgiveness. That is not to say we have to intentionally commit sin so that through God’s mercy upon us, we will learn to forgive others.

In the second reading, St. Paul tells us that no man can be an island. We risk becoming islands when we harbor hatred for others in our hearts. Gradually, we will be drifting away from those who have offended us. Everyone cannot be like us; to be different is not a crime but a spice. Therefore, we need to be understanding and accommodating so that we can harvest the spice of life inherent in varieties. Forgiveness restores our inner peace. Forgiveness is a way of handing over our battles and hurts to God for healing, restoration and justice. Those who leave everything in God’s hands, end up seeing God’s hands in everything.

Unforgiveness seeks retaliation. God has not commanded us to fight one another but to love one another. To repay evil with good is what it means to become another Christ.