ON FORGIVENESS (A Gospel Reflection)

Let us have the gospel from the Bible according to Matthew and reflect on it afterwards.

Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my brother or sister? Seven times?” Jesus answered, “No, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A king decided to settle the accounts of his servants. Among the first was one who owed him ten thousand gold ingots. As the man could not repay the debt, the king commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, children and all his goods in payment.

The official threw himself at the feet of the king and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.’ The king took pity on him and not only set him free but even canceled his debt.

This official then left the king’s presence and he met one of his companions who owed him a hundred pieces of silver. He grabbed him by the neck and almost strangled him, shouting, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ His companion threw himself at his feet and asked him, ‘Give me time, and I will pay everything.’ The other did not agree, but sent him to prison until he had paid all his debt.

His companions saw what happened. They were indignant and so they went and reported everything to their lord. Then the lord summoned his official and said, ‘Wicked servant, I forgave you all that you owed when you begged me to do so. Weren’t you bound to have pity on your companion as I had pity on you?’ The lord was now angry, so he handed his servant over to be punished, until he had paid his whole debt.”

Jesus added, “So will my heavenly Father do with you unless each of you sincerely forgive your brother or sister.”

When Jesus had finished this teaching, he left Galilee and arrived at the border of Judea, on the other side of the Jordan River.

MY REFLECTIONS:

The gospel above is all about forgiveness. Forgiving someone who did something that brought to us some irritations and hatred is one of the many necessary things we need to fulfill for us to enter the Kingdom of God in heaven.

"Forgive and forget." This is a very famous phrase we could connect with forgiveness. Forgive the person who brought something bad to you and forget of the thing he did to you. Yes, it is very easy to offer forgiveness, but it is very hard to forget all the bad things he did to you. it takes a long period of time to forget them.

But, never say that you will never forgive the person who did something wrong to you. Worse, do not think of bad things towards the same person who did something bad to you. Kung ang Diyos nga nagpapatawad, tayo pa kayang mga tao lang.

So, starting this moment, begin to release all your hatred for someone. After all, they are not the one who will suffer. It is you who suffers a lot if you will not forgive the people who did bad thing to you. Better give everything you feel to God, and He will take care of them. Pray for the people who brought irritation and hatred to you. Ask God to enlighten their mind and never do the things they did to you to others. For Confucius once said, Do not do unto others what you don't want them to do unto you.