Lenten message of Pope Francis based on Fratelli Tutti No.23
Doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and
violence, since they are
frequently less able to defend their rights.
TODAY'S WORD
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore
Mathew: 18:21-22 "Peter approached Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."
TODAY'S REFLECTION
Peter has a very significant profile in Matthew’s gospel.
It is only in Matthew’s gospel that Jesus addresses him as the rock on which he will build his church.
It is only in this gospel that we find Peter asking the question that he asks in this morning’s gospel reading,
‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’
In the Scriptures, seven is a symbol of fullness and completion.
To forgive someone seven times would seem to be as far as one could possibly go.
However, in reply to Peter’s question Jesus states that we should forgive seventy seven times.
In other words, there is to be no limit to our willingness to forgive. However, Jesus was aware that the human tendency was to put a limit on forgiveness; the parable he went on to speak bears that out. In that story, even someone who had been generously forgiven a huge debt could not find it in his heart to forgive another to a much lesser extent.
Jesus was aware of how forgiving God was. In the gospel reading he is calling on Peter and on all of us to be God-like in our readiness to forgive.
This is one aspect of what Jesus meant when he said earlier in Matthew’s gospel, ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’.
RESOLUTION
Let's resolve not only to forgive but also to forget the wrong that our brother does.
HAVE A CHEERFUL TUESDAY.