Tuesday
of the Third Week of Lent
(Daniel
3:25.34-43; Matthew 18:21-35)
Sins are
forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance if there is a “firm purpose of
amendment.” This means that the penitent
must be determined not to commit the sin again.
She may fail and come to Confession the following day. But she must want not to fail by taking
measures to avoid the sin. As important
as a firm purpose of amendment is, it is not the criterion that Jesus lays out
for forgiveness.
Jesus
insists that any mercy shown by God will be revoked if the sinner is not
willing to forgive in turn. His parable
is quite illustrious. In today’s terms
it would say a man is forgiven the debt of a billion dollars. Then he refuses to forgive his debtor who
under the same conditions could not pay back one hundred. Of course, such asymmetry is
inexcusable. God may be incomprehensibly
merciful, but He is no fool. He will not
overlook the unwillingness to forgive after one has been greatly forgiven.
We show
mercy when we do not try to get even with others for their offenses. We may try to understand why the offenders
acted in the way they did. Perhaps we remember
not acting well under similar circumstances.
Our aim is not to make excuses for th person but to recognize in
ourselves in others. In this way we are
more likely to care for them as brothers and sisters.
