September 13, 2026, at Saint Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL
Sirach 27: 30-28:9 + Psalm 103 + Romans 14: 7-9 + Matthew 18: 21-35
Followers of Jesus are to follow him, not admire him. Too many in this world fail to see a difference, and there are way too few followers while the number of admirers grows all the time. All you have to do is pay attention to many who are running for public office these days. They seem to have discovered that admiring Jesus Christ publicly will get them votes. Followers of Jesus organize their values around the values of Jesus: justice and peace. They judge what is good and right and what is evil and wrong according to the teachings of Jesus learned from what Jesus says as well as what Jesus does.
We pick up a parable today that reminds us that the Christian community is a community of the forgiven and forgiving. Peter’s question at the beginning locates this forgiveness in the family or the community when he says: “Lord, if my brother sins against me…” These debtors all seem to belong to the same household. If you remember, last week’s Gospel provided a three-step system for forgiveness. The last step was taking the matter to the community. Today we get a look at how that third step might work.
There has been a lot written on the subject of reconciliation. Once we thought the process began with the offender repenting of the offence and then asking or begging for forgiveness. We all know how that works. “Until they ask for forgiveness and admit that they were wrong, I’m not going to even think about forgiveness.” The frequent failure of that process has led to better thinking that is a lot more like the way God works. This new thinking suggests that reconciliation begins with the one offended offering forgiveness and that this willingness to forgive transforms one from being a victim to being a survivor. It is quite possible that such graciousness may touch the heart of the offender, who might also be transformed from offender to friend. Think about it. Which is better being a victim or a survivor. Which is better, being an offender or a friend. That’s what is at stake here.
It is difficult to forgive someone who has offended us. It may be that our honor is at stake or that our very person has been threatened. Deep feelings get involved. When we have been hurt, we want to inflict pain in return and even the score. Most people would not blame us for feeling like this. In fact, they would even encourage us in retaliation. However, retaliation is the way of the world and not the way of the Lord. What a horrible mess our lives would be if God chose to inflict revenge on us for our sin.
Peter wants to count how many times one offers forgiveness. His idea is like keeping score. You get just so many chances, and then you’re done. What Jesus teaches in response is that we learn to be more God-like when it comes to forgiveness. No score keeping, just divine generosity that heals and restores the human family to unity and peace with the hope that in God’s eyes we shall all be friends.