Tuesday
of the Third Week of Lent
(Daniel
3:25.34-43; Matthew 18:21-35)
In his
message for the World Day of Peace in 2002, Pope St. John Paul II reflected on
the 9-11 terrorist attacks. He repeated
the proverb that without justice, there is no peace. He also made the insight that without
forgiveness there is no justice. People
have to give up their claims for past injuries if they ever expect to have
right relationships with others. He was
not advocating that nations or individuals ignore past grievances. But he did mean that feeling God’s love, the
person or state can express love for the offender. This love may be called
mercy.
Both
readings today show the need for mercy.
The young man praying in the furnace asks for God’s mercy on his people
who calls disobedient. God will save the
youth from the furnace and bring his people back to the land of the
ancestors. The parable of Jesus is
stunning in its contrast. The original
debtor is said to owe “a huge amount.”
One should think in terms of ten digits of dollars. The second debtor owes “a much smaller
amount,” perhaps a few hundred dollars.
Yet the first debtor cannot forgive him.
There will never be justice in that first debtor’s life, much less
peace.
We can forgive others when we remember how much love God has for us. We need not assess our sins to see how much we have been forgiven. Out of love God gives us life, friends, work, and rest. For these reasons we should be ready to forgive.
