Today’s Gospel speaks to us of (1) forgiveness—both towards others and ourselves, and (2) the need to be sincere when it comes to repentance. For it is in our honest repentance that we can be confident of God’s unending forgiveness. So what does it mean then to forgive not 7 times but 77times--and is it possible?

From a theological perspective, we are called to offer forgiveness in the same manner that God forgives us. That is to say, to strive for the way that God acts toward us. Father Raymond Brown, a great scripture scholar, suggests that we might tend to view St. Peter in today’s gospel a little too harshly when we hear Jesus tell Peter that he needs to forgive “not 7 times but 77 times”. Let’s not think that Peter isn’t being generous. After all, how far are we willing to go forgive an individual? Once, maybe twice if were feeling generous? Remember the old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Perhaps we should consider the wording from the Church’s great prayer, the Our Father: “Our Father, Who art in heaven Hal-lowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” Notice the standard that is being set here: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…in this standard we hear the idea of “Do unto others as we want others to do unto us.”

Today’s gospel speaks to us about endless forgiveness, after all if we are to “strive for the way God acts toward us”—and we all want endless forgiveness ourselves—shouldn’t we then also want that same unending forgiveness for others? In seeking endless forgiveness we are called to offer sincere and honest repentance. For God knows our hearts and the true meaning of our words, therefore to approach the Holy One and seek forgiveness requires that we are honest in our repentance and by being so, He alone will be endless in calling us back to His Truths and His Ways. As I have mentioned in numerous homilies, God views our sinfulness different than we do, rather than a failure or fault, He sees our sinfulness as one more opportunity to forgive us, to love and comfort us, and to call us back to His Righteousness. It is a nice way to view our weakness and to stress the point of God’s unending mercy.

As we work to extend forgiveness in-and-through our own human lives, let us not forget to work on the hardest form of forgiveness--forgiving ourselves. Sometimes it can be very hard to forgive one’s own weaknesses or repetitive sinfulness, but that is exactly what God desires of us. To heal the self, to mend the wounds that leaves us raw, and to bring forgiveness into our own soul which will enable the human heart to become a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit—and that will bring about greater healing and so fully grow in Christ.

Father Raymond Brown tells us to look at Peter and see that he was generous in forgiving 7 times, but then Christ challenges us to go further and in that Christ-like growth, feel the fullness of His forgiving love as we become more like Him, more conformed to His Ways. Isn’t that truly the greatest of all healing remedies? And do not be like the servant who was forgiven by the King and then went out into the world and refused to forgive another who owed him…storing up the King’s forgiveness for himself alone and failing to share that grace with others. And for that, for being selfish, the wicked servant was sent to a torturous place until his debt is paid. The lesson to learn from this gospel is to forgive from the heart, with pure love and then hope that others may be healed as I am healed by God’s unending forgiveness. For if not, the last line of the Gospel is terribly harsh: “…So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you
forgives your brother from your heart.”