Counted Forgiveness - Forgiveness has no calculator.

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

*Ordinary Season : Nineteenth Week:  Thursday*

*Gospel :  Mt 18: 21-19:1*

*First Reading : Ez 12:1-12*

*Responsorial Psalm : 78: 56-62*

*Counted Forgiveness - Forgiveness has no calculator.*

*1) Peter wants a number; Jesus gives a new logic*

Peter asks: “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”

Seven already sounds generous. Peter may be thinking: “Surely there must be a limit!”

But Jesus answers: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Mt 18:22)

The point is not that Jesus is replacing 7 with 77 as a larger mathematical limit.

Jesus is saying: Forgiveness is not meant to be counted.

Peter asks: “How many times?”

Jesus answers: “Do not live by counting.”

*2) Can forgiveness be counted?*

In a mathematical sense, perhaps we can count the occasions when we forgive.

But Christian forgiveness cannot be based on counting.

If I say: 

“I forgave you once.”

“I forgave you twice.”

“This is the third time.”

“I have already forgiven you five times.”

“One more time, and I am finished.” 

Then forgiveness has become an accounting system.

But God's forgiveness is not accounting in that sense.

The Christian question is not: “How many times have I forgiven this person?” but: “Am I still willing to forgive?”

Forgiveness is not a counter; it is a character.

*3) The logic of Jesus: Forgiveness received → Forgiveness given*

Jesus immediately tells the parable of the unforgiving servant.

A servant owes his master an enormous debt. The master forgives the entire debt.

But that same servant goes out and refuses to forgive a much smaller debt owed to him.

This exposes the central logic: I forgive because I have first been forgiven.

The servant forgets the mercy he received.

He remembers only the debt owed to him.

This is the tragedy of the human heart: We remember what others owe us more easily than what God has forgiven us.

The Gospel therefore invites us to make a spiritual calculation: Do not calculate how much another person owes you. Calculate how much mercy you yourself have received.

*4) The danger of “counted forgiveness”*

There are several dangers when forgiveness becomes something we count.

*A) Forgiveness becomes a transaction* : “I forgave you, so now you owe me.” That is not complete forgiveness. It is a transaction disguised as mercy.

*B) We keep an invisible record* : Sometimes we say: “I have forgiven.” But deep inside, we maintain a file: Date – Incident – Person – Hurt – Number of times forgiven. The mouth says, “I forgive you.” The heart says, “But I haven't forgotten what you did.” Forgiveness does not mean forgetting the event, but it means refusing to keep the injury as a weapon against the person.

*C) We create a forgiveness limit* : “If he does it again, I won't forgive.” This makes our forgiveness conditional. Jesus invites us toward a forgiveness that does not operate according to a numerical limit. 

*D) We begin to see the person only through the offence* : This is especially dangerous. We say: “He lied to me.” and gradually it becomes: “He is a liar.” We say: “She hurt me.” and it becomes: “She is a bad person.” One action becomes the identity of the person. Forgiveness allows us to say: “What you did was wrong, but you are more than the wrong you committed.”

*E) We become prisoners of the past* : When we keep counting offences, we continue to carry them. The person who hurt us may have moved on. But we keep replaying the incident. Thus: The offender may have left the prison, but we remain inside the prison of resentment. Forgiveness opens the door.

*5) The deepest question: What do I remember?*

The unforgiving servant remembered: “He owes me.” But he forgot: “My master forgave me.”

This is perhaps the central spiritual lesson.

When someone hurts us, we remember their offence.

Jesus asks us to remember something greater: “How much has God forgiven me?”

The more deeply I experience God's mercy, the less comfortable I become with withholding mercy from others.

*6) A simple reflection for our daily life*

Before saying: “I have forgiven this person many times.” pause and ask: How many times has God forgiven me?

Before saying: “This person does not deserve forgiveness.” ask: Did I deserve all the mercy I have received from God?

Before saying: “I will never forgive.” ask: Do I want God to treat me according to everything I have done, or according to His mercy?

That can change the whole meaning of forgiveness.

Forgiveness has no calculator. If I count, I am still keeping an account.

If I forgive from the heart, I begin to resemble the God who has forgiven me.

Peter asks: “How many times?”

Jesus responds, in effect: “Stop counting. Start becoming merciful.”

*Think about it*

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones*

*Fr Maxim DSouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*