Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The parable in today’s Gospel invites me to deepen the theme of pardon upon which I reflected yesterday. Christ teaches that my heavenly Father’s mercy is infinite. “Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.” I can easily identify with the servant, for I too have need of forgiveness. “Be patient with me,” is a plea with which I can identify.
Having asked for patience to pay back a debt and then, given total remission of it, should make me sympathetic with someone who’s indebted to me. But “Pay back what you owe” has a sad, repetitious ring about it with me. What’s the solution? A desire to grow in sympathetic care and concern for others. How? Reflection on the undeserved gifts God has so generously given to me.
This formula should be swallowed in generous dosages often during the day and particularly at night before bedtime. The result should enable me to see that pardon is not a solution that regularizes a situation. It stimulates love of God and neighbor. If it doesn’t enable me to see that I must deal with my neighbor in the same way God has dealt with me, I should consult a spiritual director.
Resolution: I will spend time today reflecting on the many wonderful people God has put into my life and I shall ask him to enable me to see those quirks about them that annoy me for what they really are: foibles that can lead to laughter.