PRAY FOR THOSE WHO OFFEND YOU & FORGIVE THEM.
"Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
"Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
"That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
"When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.
"At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
"Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
"When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
"Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.
"Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
"His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’
"Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18: 21 - 35).
Tuesday March 5th in the 3rd Week in Lent.
God said to Moses : "I am a God of mercy and compassion. Be holy as I am holy." (Cf Exodus 34: 6).
If we receive mercy from God, we must show mercy to others. It is not okay to say that it is difficult to forgive.
Sirach in his teaching portrays a divine quid pro quo when it comes to forgiving our neighbor. "Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven." (Sirach 28: 2).
"Can one refuse mercy to a sinner like oneself, yet seek pardon for one’s own sins?" (Sirach 28: 4).
Notice the punchline in Sirach: "A sinner like yourself."
Jesus says the same in today's Gospel:
"I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?" (Matthew 18: 32 - 33).
I have struggled with the question of forgiveness. Below is what I learned:
#1 Forgive the offense immediately. Everywhere, always, for everything, for everyone without discrimination.
#2 Pray blessings on the offender morning and evening. Continue to pray for the offender until you are healed of the hurt.
#3 Ask God to grant the grace to everyone you have offended to forgive you and set you free. I practiced #1 and #2 for years before it occurred to me that there are people out there that I have offended.
#4 If you do not read the word of God regularly, you will never understand anything about God's mercy and will find it difficult to forgive.
Psalm 103 is one of my favorite Psalms on the mercy of God.
"The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion." (Cf Psalm 103: 1 - 3).
St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.
Joseph is a man of high purity and chastity. God chose him to be the husband of Mary because God had fitted him with the appropriate graces to protect the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Church considers St Joseph the greatest Saint after the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph is so fittingly named the Patron of the Universal Church. Remember that he was the Guardian of Jesus and in his intercessory role, you can believe that Jesus will deny nothing to Joseph.
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