Sunday 17th of September
“To be forgiven, you must forgive.”
Matthew 18:21-35
I invite you to read this gospel passage slowly, aware of the different feelings, thoughts and emotions it raises in us. Perhaps the first thing that strikes us is the unwillingness of the servant to forgive his fellow servant after his master had forgiven him. We can quickly judge the servant for his lack of mercy and double standards. However, we might identify moments in our lives where we have approached God for forgiveness and received it, then failed to forgive a brother or sister for a minor offence.
As Christians, we are called to imitate Christ in his love and mercy. And while forgiveness can be challenging, we need to take the necessary steps to journey along the way of forgiveness so that our lives can be more authentically aligned with Jesus. Lord, please help us not to have double standards in our lives, where there is one rule for ourselves and then another for our brothers and sisters. May our life be a channel of mercy and forgiveness