Sharing Guidelines
*Sharing is not a time for teaching or debate; it is a time to sense the marvelous work of the Holy Spirit who leads the gathering.
*Reflection sharing is not meant to teach others but to share the meaning you personally have discovered. Therefore, do not criticize or debate another person’s sharing. Avoid boasting of your own understanding or knowledge.
*Respect the grace of the Holy Spirit, who reveals the meaning of the Word while dwelling among us, and listen attentively to others’ sharing, holding it in your heart.
*Keep confidential any personal reflections or stories shared in the group; practicing brotherly love means not passing along private matters outside the meeting.
*When speaking, always use the first person singular (“I”). Be careful not to distance or generalize your story by using the third person (“he,” “they”) or the first person plural (“we”).
*Keep it short.
Reading 1
Sirach 27:30—28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.
-The Word of the Lord – Thanks be to God
Reading 2
Romans 14:7-9
Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
-The Word of the Lord – Thanks be to God
Gospel
Matthew 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
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 the fellow servant 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.”
-The Gospel of the Lord -Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ
Today’s Reflection
In today’s first reading, we are told that forgiving others is connected to receiving God’s forgiveness:
“Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.”
We also say something similar when we pray the Lord’s Prayer:
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
So, we understand that we should forgive others. But we might think that God forgives us because we forgive others. Is that really the case?
Today’s Gospel gives us a different message. God forgives us first. Jesus tells us a story about a servant who owed the king a huge amount of money. The debt was so large that the servant could never pay it back. We cannot even imagine how much it was. The servant begged the king for patience. The king felt sorry for him and did something amazing:
He forgave the servant’s entire debt.
The Gospel does not tell us why the servant had such a huge debt. It does not tell us what he did with the money. It simply tells us that the king had compassion on him and forgave him.
This shows us something important about God’s forgiveness.
God does not forgive us because we have earned it. He forgives us because He is merciful.
God does not first ask us how many sins we have committed or how serious our sins are. He sees us with compassion and offers us His forgiveness.
But there is an important question: How do we act after we have been forgiven?
The servant who was forgiven a huge debt later met another servant who owed him a much smaller amount. Instead of showing mercy, he became angry and demanded that the man pay him back. He even had him put in prison.
The king was very disappointed. He said:
“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?”
The reason we should forgive others is, first of all, because we have already been forgiven by God.
When we are able to forgive someone, it is not simply because we are strong or good people. It comes from experiencing God’s forgiveness and being thankful for His mercy. God has shown us great mercy. Therefore, we are also called to show mercy to others. Today, let us think about the people who have hurt us. Is there someone we are still angry with? Is there someone we find difficult to forgive? Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did was right. It means that we choose not to hold on to anger and resentment. We place that person and our pain in God’s hands.
Because God has forgiven us, we are called to forgive others from our hearts.
(정천 사도 요한 신부)