Presence

“Come to me all you who are burdened and I will give you rest”. (Matthew 11:28). Here I am, Lord. I come to seek Your presence. I long for Your healing power.

Freedom

“There are very few people
who realise what God would make of them
if they abandoned themselves into his hands,
and let themselves be formed by his grace.” (Saint Ignatius)
I ask for the grace to entrust myself totally to God’s love.

Consciousness

Dear Lord, open me to hear and receive Your Word today. May it bear much fruit in my life, and in the lives of others.

The Word of God

²¹Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, ²⁵and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. ²⁶So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³²Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.

¹When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Inspiration

Jesus is saying here that there must be no limit to our forgiveness of others. In this, we are to try in our own poor way to imitate our God, who forgives endlessly. In this gospel, as in the Our Father, we are told that the reason we should forgive is because we ourselves are constantly being forgiven by God. Let us pray for this grace.

Our forgiveness is tied to the call never to judge others. We cannot judge others because we cannot get inside their minds to understand all that is going on in them. Only God can do this. So we have to make allowances for them and indeed for ourselves. Let us pray for generosity and greater understanding with this.

Conversation

God’s Word is always fruitful.
How is it touching me now
as I reflect on what I have just prayed?
Do I feel comforted?
Do I feel challenged?

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen