Seventy-seven times - Mt 18:21-19:1
The door that is closed to your neighbor is also closed to God. Forgiveness is the only way out from the world of suspicion, retaliation, and hatred. - How often must I forgive him? As many as seven times? - We ask with St. Peter. - Not seven times but seventy-seven times, which is always, says Jesus.
The theme of forgiveness appears constantly in the Gospel. In the Sermon on the Mount (just before the "Our Father"), the Lord Jesus says: " Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.! " (Mt 5: 23–24, cf. Mk 11:25). Immediately after "Our Father", Jesus once again emphasizes the relationship between God's and human forgiveness: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”(Mt 6: 14-15). We have the power (unfortunately!) to prevent God's grace from working.
When the apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive if someone was to sin against him, he heard, "Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times." The number 77 refers to the biblical figure of Lamech, one of Cain's descendants, who was ready to take revenge seventy-seven times (Genesis 4:24). The logic of vengeance and hatred is contrasted with the world of unlimited forgiveness. The parable of the unmerciful debtor is a good commentary on the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer. The servant owed his master huge amount. He had a debt that he was unable to pay. Jesus deliberately exaggerated the amount of this debt to show the magnitude of God's mercy. The extended servant, however, turned out to be ruthless to the man who owed him a much smaller amount, which was a ridiculously small sum compared to the debt forgiven him. And for this lack of mercy he was punished. The wall that separates us from our neighbor is also the wall that separates us from God.
Who is my offender?
“Everyone reacts differently to harm. We can desire evil for those who have done it to us, speak badly of those who have spoken badly about us. We can allow resentment to infect our interior, creating a kind of malaise and constant dissatisfaction, constant dissatisfaction with everyone and with everything. We can direct the anger against ourselves as if we deserved to be wounded and rejected. We let ourselves be convinced of our lack of self-worth, our inferiority, our mediocrity and our wickedness” (J. Vanier). These or other reactions to evil lead to a break in communication with the other. A wall is created that often tends to grow. It is all more painful when it concerns relatives. Then loneliness, fear and closure grows. Forgiveness is the only way to heal a torn human bond. It is sometimes a long journey that takes time.
Forgiveness does not imply some trivialization of evil. Injury remains injury, evil remains evil. Some things just can't be forgotten. Forgiveness is rising above evil. It is the implementation of the principle: Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good" (cf. Romans 12:21). It is a love that loves in spite of everything. It is a belief that every human being is a child of God, that there are (sometimes very deeply) layers of good that can be mobilized in him. It is a belief that men can be changed, that evil does not cancel him out.
One of the contemporary icons of forgiveness was the meeting of John Paul II with Ali Agca who wanted to kill Him. "As we forgive those who trespass against us." Who are my "culprits"? Who do I hate, who irritates me, who do I get mad at, who do I constantly talk about and humiliate? Husband, wife, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, child, parish priest, colleague, political opponent? Who needs my forgiveness? Who can I not forgive?
"So, if we have sins, brethren, let us forgive those who ask for it. Let us not keep hostility towards anyone in our hearts, for when a lot of hatred accumulates in our hearts, it destroys" (St. Augustine). Praying daily in the Lord's Prayer: " and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;" let us pray fervently to avoid the temptation to accumulate in our hearts enmity and retaliation against people, because enmity and retaliation cause "destruction of the heart" and make it incapable of true opening to God now and in eternity.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george