Gift of Forgiveness!

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Josh 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17; Mt 18:21-19:1

Today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on forgiveness, followed by yesterday’s theme on reconciliation. 

Hence, the text highlights that, like reconciliation, forgiveness is rooted in fraternal charity.

Imitating yesterday’s Gospel wherein Jesus starts teaching, ‘If your brother sins against you…’, today’s text presents Peter’s doubt that begins with the words, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me…’ It is Peter’s question that prompts the Lord to enlighten us on forgiveness through the parable of the unforgiving servant. 

The parable puts before us some key insights on forgiveness.

1. In the parable, the king (God) treats his servant like his brother, though he owed him a huge amount. But the unforgiving servant holds back what he freely received from his king and treats his fellow servant like his slave, though the latter owed only a much smaller amount. 

2. Here, Jesus underlines the fact that since all of us are recipients of the gift of God’s mercy, it must be shared with all generously. We must not become the endpoints of God’s mercy through our selfishness but must help the cycle of forgiveness continue to rotate. 

3. In Jesus’ exposition, we understand that those who pass on the gift of God’s mercy reveal its transforming power. In this regard, Jesus shows that forgiveness flows from the recognition that we have been forgiven first. There is no doubt that the receivers are transformed into sharers. 

Above all, Jesus wants us to envision the fact that in forgiveness, we imitate the goodness of God.

Let us pray that we may practice an active forgiveness imitating God’s mercy and generosity. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar