Read: 1 Corinthians 9:2-12; Matthew 18:23-35

This Sunday’s gospel is about forgiveness. How God forgives is compared to how we forgive one another. Jesus’ teaching is in answer to Peter’s question: “if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him.” This implies that there is a limit to forgiveness. Jesus does not reply “always,” but “seven times seventy-seven times” In Aramaic, the answers would always be concrete, and this was in reply to Peter’s suggestion of “seven.” You could keep track of seven, but not 7 x 77. It was a virtual “always.” The same is true of the parable. The king forgives his servant 10,000 talents, which was roughly 20 years of daily wages. This was translated “a huge amount,” but again the sum is concrete, it may as well have been “infinite.” Then the forgiven man refuses to forgive his brother one denarius, a day’s wages, again easily countable.

Two questions: the first is the meaning of “forgiveness.” Here it means that someone else has wronged you, and a debt is incurred. To forgive means to write off the debt, saying virtually, “You owe me nothing.” Justice becomes a simple question of mercy.

In English we have the saying, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Any debt we would owe God is infinite, since God is without limits and has given us everything that we are or possess. If God, as infinite, forgives us our debts, then we, as limited human beings, should forgive one another our very limited debts, all of which are small as compared to the infinity of God, if we are to become God-like, that is, to be saved. Why then, is simple forgiveness so difficult for us?

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
#ByzantineCatholicNewHaven