Homily for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/022608.shtml

Most of us confess being judgmental, harboring grudges, and gossiping about others. There is within us an unwillingness to forgive, to look past things we do not like about others, and to hold on to the hurt we feel we have experienced at the hands of others. Because Jesus knows this is a particular weakness of the human condition, he tells Peter to forgive and to forgive and to forgive. Just so, we should never consider ourselves ‘finished’ with developing a heart that is capable of forgiving others.

Jesus reminds us throughout the scriptures that the measure with which we measure will be measured out to us. He tells us not to approach the Eucharist if we hold a grudge against our brother. This reminds us that it is ok to go to Mass sometimes and not to receive the Eucharist, if we feel like we might receive the sacrament unworthily. While it is true that a few people might be suspicious that we have done something really terrible since we are not receiving communion, in reality we will be doing a great service to our brothers and sisters in helping them to form their own consciences. We will also point them toward a fruitful use of the sacrament of confession, which we should be receiving often, as the way for us to be fully reconciled with God and with our brothers and sisters in the Church.

So we are reminded that we will not be forgiven unless we forgive others. But today’s Gospel goes deeper, and asks us to consider whether the reason we do not forgive others is a lack of gratitude on our part for the forgiveness we have received. We should always assume that the debt we have been forgiven is much greater than the debt we should forgive someone else. This is the virtue of humility which the steward who owed the greater amount lacked. More importantly, we should ask the Lord in prayer if it is true that the reason we are having a hard time forgiving others is that we have not fully experienced or appreciated the mercy of Jesus in our own lives. Perhaps being more forgiving of others is dependent upon our making a better examination of conscience, and a better confession, and thus coming to a greater love for and dependence on the mercy of Jesus in our own lives.