Second Reading: Rom 14:7-9
Christianity is known for
charity and forgiveness. Many kingdoms have come and gone but no kingdom has
survived as long as the kingdom of God on this earth. Because the foundation
for earthly kingdoms are destruction of the existing one – the destruction of
one that is existing at the time of the rise of new kingdom. The one who takes the
sword will die with the sword (Mt 26:52). Thus, any kingdom that comes up by
ruling out the other will eventually face termination at one point of time in
the history. Jews thought that Jesus would destroy the Roman kingdom and
establish His own kingdom. But things didn’t happen as they wished. Jesus chose
another way, He established His kingdom without destroying the existing one. The
foundation of His kingdom was love and forgiveness. No founder of any human kingdom
have unearthed this secret. All want to reign by dethroning the other. On the
contrary, Jesus planned to reign without removing the other, because even His
enemy is His son/daughter. Will the mother or father will the destruction of
her/his children if they turn against her/him? No. Even if they do so, the mother
of Mothers and Father of fathers would never do that. Jesus, the divine mother
and father wills life for all His children. Thus, he loved even His executioners.
Even His crucifixion could not make Him angry toward His executioners. Love
nailed Him to the Cross. Love poured out forgiving blood and water from His
side. This unchangeable and never ending love was the foundation for Christianity.
Today’s readings are about
the virtue of forgiveness. The king in the parable shows immeasurable mercy to
his servant. The debt of the servant amounts to $60,000,000 of that time. The cancelling
of such as huge debt completely without placing any condition is a mercy par excellence.
Mercy is the action of the king. But the cause of that mercy is the love of the
king. The king loves his subjects. His love to preserve the life of His
citizens moved him to show mercy for the undeserved servant. As Jesus’ love on
the cross effected forgiveness, the love of the king effects pardon for the
wicked servant. The recipient of this unconditional mercy turns to be a ruthless
man as he neglects mercy for his fellow servant who owes him less than $200 of that
time. The underlying problem here is lack
of love. The servant considers the mercy of the king for his debt as the
effect of his pleading. For he thinks that he has tricked the king with his way
of pleading. He lauds himself as the winner of his trickery. He could not
perceive the love that king has in cancelling his debt. O poor servant! if only
you were to realize the love of your king, you would not have maltreated your
fellow servant. Yes, dear friends, forgiveness is very difficult to practice
especially if that is practiced out of fear or on the account of survival. The basis
of forgiveness should be LOVE. Where there
is true love there is immeasurable forgiveness. Love has no limit to
forgive as seven or seventy times.
The ending of parable is
very important. The king revokes his forgiveness when the pardoned servant
fails in forgiving his fellow servant. God is Love. Out of His love He forgives
all our sins but if we fail to forgive others then He would revoke that forgiveness.
Remember, we pray to God to forgive our sins as we forgive others. Jesus has already placed the condition within
the prayer he has taught us. It is we, who decide the forgiveness of God. To become
successful in the mission of forgiveness we need to LOVE unconditionally. For that
to happen as the second reading of the day says, we need to confirm ourselves
to the Lord. Whether we live or die we should be of the Lord’s (Rom 14:8). Belongingness
to Him will help us to be like Him who does not treat us according to our sins
(Ps 103:10). May this week be a loveable and forgiving week. God bless!
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