We are in the Twenty-fourth Sunday
of ordinary time. The readings of today bid us to reflect on the theme: forgiveness.
God loves everyone in this
world. We all pray to God for our protection and wellbeing. God takes
responsibility for our life, as He is the giver of life. He wants all of us to
live well and be protected from any evil. In the second reading – taken from
letter to romans – St. Paul tells, “whether we live or die, we are for the Lord”
(Rom 14:8). Our sole purpose of living and dying is for the Lord. Therefore,
our business is only with the Lord.
As we ask the Lord for our
wellbeing and goodness, God also asks us to do only one thing: do no harm to the other. When we harm
the other, we are disturbing the peaceful life and goodness of that person to
whom also God has promised protection. Thus, by refraining from doing evil to
the other we are ensuring God’s protection for that person. We become
co-workers and partner in God’s activity of protecting. God protects the other
with my help and also protects me with the co-operation of the other with Him. Thus,
all of us become co-workers in God’s activity.
The parable in the Gospel (Mt
18:21-35) shows that the Master will be compassionate toward the servant, if
only that servant exhibits compassion toward his/her fellow servants. All our
life owes to God who ensures wellbeing, goodness and protection, if only we exhibit
the same toward our fellow human beings, because God of oneself is also the God
of the other. When we focus all our living towards God and His teaching we
cannot but refrain from harming the other.
When every activity of our life is centred on God we are oriented to do only good.
The reality in which we are
living today is filled with evil; one harms the other without realising one’s
own vulnerability of being harmed by the other. In this context, many seem to
prefer ‘tit for tat’ as the possible solution. But that is only an immediate
solution for limited period of time, it cannot solve the problem once and for
all. Forgiveness is the best tool which can end the evil from multiplying. True forgiveness that proceeds from the heart
of man captivates the evil that the
other has done to him/her with love. In
this act of forgiveness, the love
embraces the evil and transforms it to be good.
The covid-19
pandemic has not only kept us in distance from one another but also showed us
our interdependence. The sick person needs the doctor, the hungry needs the food
keeper, the government needs the co-operation of its citizens… at last and not the
least it is not only the farmer rather all of us are in need of natural
resources. We need fresh air to breathe, good water to drink and good soil to
produce. In this way all our lives are connected. To ensure this connectivity,
we need to practice forgiveness. In this vast area of connectivity and interdependency
it is possible for some to create rupture and spoil the soup. It that situation
‘tit for tat’ will only aggravate the situation from bad to worse, rather the
unleashing of forgiveness will mend that rupture and ensure the connectivity and
interdependency. Let us focus our life only on God and live accordingly. In this
way of living we cannot but practice forgiveness.
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