The passage today is one of the most “in your face”
teachings on forgiveness in all of the Bible. It is quite arresting to think
about how much God has forgiven us and how little we want to forgive others. We
tend to track every injustice in our little books. If we are honest, each of us
has likely been in the situation of the unforgiving servant in our own lives.
There have been people who have forgiven us wrongs, overlooked shortcomings,
given us opportunities while at the same time we have withheld this from
others. I can think right now of the adults in my young life and formative
years, teachers, neighbors, parents of friends, who were infinitely tolerant of
my foibles.
In particular, I think of my parents who were (and still are!) incredibly loving and
forgiving despite my best efforts to thwart them on this front. The grace of God can
often pour into our life through others. May we be reflective of the grace God
has given us directly and the grace received through the hands of His providence
in other ways. The parable of incredible injustice we read in today’s Gospel
should cause us to examine ourselves and see if and where we are withholding
forgiveness and love. Maybe it is buried so deeply we don’t want to disturb it.
If so, pray that God can help you through this process. It might involve others
in the journey, but the Lord promises us a tremendous benefit for imitating
Him.
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