“Moved with compassion the master of that servant
matthew 18:27
let him go and forgave him the loan.”
Reflection
When Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive others, Jesus tells him a parable about a servant who owes a large debt to his master. In compassion, the master forgives the debt, and the servant proceeds to demand a debt from someone who owes him money. When the master finds out, he has the wicked servant given to the torturers until the debt is paid back.
In this parable, the master is compassionate towards the servant in the beginning. Because of the servant’s supposed humility, he is let go. While we should not copy the servant’s actions after he is released, we learn that we should be repentant and humble before the Lord. Our many sins leave us in debt to God and we can never truly repay them. But because he is merciful and compassionate, he forgives us of them.
This is why the sacrament of Confession is crucial. We are offered the chance to properly reconcile with God, again and again. He wants to be in proper relationship with us, and in instituting Confession, reveals his great love for each of us. Our sinfulness makes us unworthy of God, but he wants to bring us back every day to himself. He is our compassionate Father who desires to be one with us in heaven.
Saint of the Day
St. Maximilian Kolbe: 1894 – 1941
“If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother.”
St. Maximilian
The Healing Word 