FORGIVENESS: THE BOND THAT HOLDS HUMANITY TOGETHER.

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR A.
September 14, 2008.
(First reading: Sirach 27:30-28:7) (Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12)
(Second reading: Romans 14:7-9) (Gospel reading: Matthew 18:21-35)


FORGIVENESS: THE BOND THAT
HOLDS HUMANITY TOGETHER.

There is something that bonds human beings together, that prevents them from destroying one another, that is intrinsic to human nature and necessary for the survival of humanity: FORGIVENESS.

Today's gospel tells us that forgiveness is born of compassion: "Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan" (Matthew 18:27).

Forgiveness is born out of compassion for a suffering humanity, for a humanity undergoing a process of self-destruction.

In our world today, that process of self-destruction is ignited and fueled by the unchecked destruction between human beings, by the wrongs (sins) they inflict against one another.

In order to prevent such destruction, a person must:
- Identify himself with all other human beings,

- Understand that the wrong inflicted upon one is a wrong inflicted upon all,

- Expect that the suffering of one human being will move everybody else to compassion.

The one who forgives his offender, reaffirms the expectation that the one who has been forgiven will, in turn, forgive others. In today's parable, the king expected that the servant who was forgiven would, in turn, forgive others.

The servant's failure to forgive meant that the unity between two human beings had been broken.

Now, if we define forgiveness as the human capacity to preserve the unity among human beings, we must agree on the following:
- Forgiveness is not a mere way of behavior, it is, rather, a way of life. That is to say, in order to live as a true human being, one must forgive his fellow human beings.

- Forgiveness knows no limits neither in quality nor in quantity. When asked whether it was enough to forgive seven times, the Lord Jesus responded: "I say to you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22); in other words, always!

- Forgiveness is not perfected in a unilateral action. it is perfected in the universal interaction among all human beings. That was the reason which lead the king to expect his servant to, in turn, forgive others.

- Forgiveness is not a temporary action, it is to be forever. It is the essence of true human history manifesting itself as the interaction of human beings forgiving one another.

Today, those who break the unity among human beings are they who have lost their capacity to be "moved with compassion" in the face of the sufferings of their fellow human beings; they have lost their capacity to see themselves as members of humankind.

The Book of Sirach says: "Wrath and anger [war and destruction] are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight" (Sirach 27:30).

The Book of Sirach advises: "Set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!" (Sirach 28:6), cease from destroying and starving your fellow human beings.

Jesus proclaims today that forgiveness is the bond that holds humanity together.