Then Peter went up to him and said, 'Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?' Jesus answered, 'Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times. 'And so the kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master's feet, with the words, "Be patient with me and I will pay the whole sum." And the servant's master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow-servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him, saying, "Pay what you owe me." His fellow-servant fell at his feet and appealed to him, saying, "Be patient with me and I will pay you." But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow-servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for the man and said to him, "You wicked servant, I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?" And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.'

REFLECTION

Today we have another challenging Gospel. Peter comes to Jesus and bluntly asks him how many times he needs to forgive another, be that his brother, his sister, friend or co-worker. Peter asks if he should forgive the other person seven times? I wonder: did Peter have a family member, a spouse or a friend whom he had wounded multiple times? Or was Peter simply asking the question because he wanted to hear how Jesus would answer his question?

As often is the case, Jesus does not answer Peter’s question directly. Rather Jesus bluntly tells Peter that he should forgive the other person, not simply 7 times, but 77 times! Now that is a lot of forgiveness! It often is easier to forgive another if the hurt or insult is minor. However, when a person has been betrayed or slandered by another person, most of us also would find it difficult to forgive the individual. And this is understandable: our trust has been betrayed!

Was Peter surprised at Jesus’ answer? Was Peter thinking of a family member or friend that he needed to forgive? Or was Peter remembering someone he had hurt or wounded? Was Peter hoping that at some point, he would be forgiven?

Hopefully, over time, we will forgive the person who wounded us. And in this process, we also free ourselves of the heavy burden we have been carrying. Lack of forgiveness usually has more effect on us than on the individual we need to forgive. Resentment and anger poison us. If we are not able to forgive the other person, we may be the one who carries the heavier burden. True, it is not easy to let go of our anger and hurt. However, if we can place our anger, hurt and resentment into God’s hands, over time God will heal our resentment, hurt and anger. However, it may take a long time.

The grace is Jesus does not expect us to deal with these hurts and resentments alone. Jesus walks with us, encourages us and over time, gives us the grace to let go and hopefully to also forgive the one who hurt us. However, we have to be patient with this process. And, we need to keep coming back to Jesus and ask him to help us forgive. Jesus wants us to ask him to free us of this burden, this pain. Jesus is with us and He will answer our prayers!

Today may we place all our burdens, our anger and our pain in Jesus’ hands. This will lighten our load immensely and it also will free us! However, will we, do we, trust Jesus? (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

CATHOLIC MISSION FAIR DAY

Today we celebrated Catholic Mission Fair Day. With so many stalls, we had so much fun. We are pleased to announce that we raised a total of $860.90. 

Catholic Mission is the Pope’s international mission agency. They respond to the call to love God and to love our neighbour by forming individuals and communities as missionary disciples of Jesus who share their faith in action and through prayer. They share in God’s mission to reach out, give life by sharing our personal and financial resources to: - proclaim the Gospel, - serve people in need, - act for peace, justice and creation; In partnership with local churches, so that all may have life in Christ.

Thanks to everyone who supported Catholic Mission through their participation in today’s fair.

God Bless,

Warren Ziebowski

(Religious Education Coordinator)