Tuesday of the Third Lent of Lent
(Mt 18:21-35)
A year ago in January former President Gerald Ford died. Commentators in the newspapers and on television remembered him with admiration. They said that his singular greatest achievement was to pardon ex-President Nixon for criminal activity in the Watergate cover-up. Even Ted Kennedy admitted that, although he disagreed with the decision at the time, he has come to regard it as a distinctive service to the country. The pardon helped heal a nation badly divided over ideology and shocked over wrongdoing at the highest levels.
Would that politicians be more willing to practice today what they admire in past heroes! Instead we usually hear them demand the resignation, the impeachment, or an apology from those who violate their principles. In the gospel Jesus tells his disciples that it should not be that way with us. We must be ready to forgive when people repent of their misdeeds. Rather than clamor for retribution, we must pray that our offenders take note of their wrongdoing, ask forgiveness, and make proper amends.
Mercy becomes us. Shakespeare writes that an “earthly power doth then show likest God's,
when mercy seasons justice.” It even makes us better appreciated in our society as in the case of President Ford. In forgiving, of course, we must not abandon the norms of justice. Compensation to the wronged is usually due, and the offender must be resolved not to offend again. But practiced rightly, mercy like “the gentle rain from heaven” – as Shakespeare put it -- benefits everyone.
