Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Reading (Matthew 18: 23-35)
Jesus told this parable:"The kingdom of God is like a master who decided to settle accounts with his servants. One servant was brought to him who owed him a huge sum of money. Since the man had no way to pay it back, the master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all his property, in payment of the debt. But the man pleaded with him, and promised to pay him back in full. The master was moved with pity, and let the servant go and forgave the debt.
After he was let go, the man came upon a fellow servant who owed him a day's wage. He seized him and demanded that he pay back what he owed. The fellow servant pleaded with him to give him time to pay back the debt, but the man refused. He had him thrown into prison until he could pay what he owed.
Other servants saw what had happened and reported it to the master. The master summoned the man and said, 'I forgave you your entire debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have done the same to your fellow servant?'
Then the master handed him over to be tortured until he paid back his entire debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Song (Isaiah 58)
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
Of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed,
And lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
A day acceptable to the Lord?This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
Releasing those bound unjustly,
Untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
Breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
Sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
And not turning your back on your own.
Reflection
God places only one condition on his mercy: that we forgive our brother from our heart. As we have been forgiven, so too must we forgive.It is in our nature to be quick to judge the sins of others while making considerable allowance for our own faults. Much self-knowledge is needed to begin to set things right. The debt of sin that God forgives in each of us is like a vast sum of money, too large to count. Compared with this, our brother's sin against us is a pittance.
God has infinite patience with our human weakness, but his mercy reaches its limit when we refuse to show mercy to others. Our pleading before God will go unheard, our prayer and fasting unnoticed, unless we show compassion as God has been compassionate toward us.
Prayer
God our Father, you do not judge us as our sins deserve, but show us infinite mercy. We give you thanks for the forgiveness of our sins, and we resolve with your help to forgive the failings of others. May we accept small injustices gracefully, and endure greater trials with patience, until the day when you will look into the hearts of all people, and judge each of us in truth.
Read another reflection on forgiveness