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Lent - Week Four 2010
By Pat Lee | March 15, 2010
Monday : March 15, 2010
Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43 Matthew 18:21-35
Scripture Verse: Then Peter came up and asked him, “Lord, when my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him.” Matthew 18:21
Reflection: Chapter 18 in Matthew’s gospel is concerned with relationships among members of the church. It emphasizes that generosity in forgiveness is an essential mark of the Christian life. Without it, the church fades and dies.
Through today’s parable Jesus underlines the basic reason why our forgiveness is to be without limit. The reason is that we have received limitless forgiveness from God. The parable of the unforgiving official—the man who had himself experienced generosity from the king—shows how the official did not appreciate what had been done for him and did not see his responsibility to forgive as he had been forgiven.
This was not an isolated theme in Jesus’ teaching. He returns to it again and again and includes it when he teaches his followers how to pray. Perhaps Jesus dwelt so frequently on the topic of forgiveness because he knew how hard it would be for his followers.
Perhaps we have not yet accepted God’s forgiveness and carry burdens of real or imagined guilt. Perhaps because we haven’t accepted God’s forgiveness, it is challenging for us to forgive. Sometimes some people seem to feel that to forgive would be a sign of weakness—that it might deprive them of revenge—that it somehow makes them a loser in the power struggle of life.
Perhaps this Lent would be a good time for us to be attentive to what is happening at the time of confession and absolution during worship. We can open our hearts to experience the reality of God’s forgiveness and simply accept it and allow it to give us the courage and strength to forgive others.
Let us pray and ask God to grant us his kindness and mercy. Let us ask God to help us treat others with the forgiveness that comes from God.
Topics: Lent |
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