Thursday 17th of August
‘How often must I forgive my brother?’
Matthew 18:21-19:1
When Jesus told Peter to forgive not 7 times, but 77 times, he implied that forgiveness is not something to keepascoreof. BothinhowmuchGodcanforgiveus, and in how much we are called to forgive others. In practice though, it can be tiring forgiving over and over again. Yet we are called to forgive as the master forgives – with patience and compassion. Do we find it easy or difficult to forgive? We can talk to Jesus about this.
God is always patient and compassionate with us when we ask him for forgiveness. Pope Francis says that “God never tires of forgiving us, but at times we get tired of asking forforgiveness.” Do we get discouraged when we struggle with the same things again and again? We can take confidence that God never tires of forgiving us. Today let us pray for the grace to be compassionate as God is, to both ourselves and those around us.