Stop measuring everything

24 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
 
The Book of Sirach is delightful. Every sentence is full of meaning and deserves to be pondered over and over again. This book is perfect for our lifestyle. Go into any store and you will find pillows, framed everything, chalk boards, fridge magnets and they are all full of little words of wisdom to think about over coffee. Personally, I hate it, but you all seem to love it. When I go into a store I don’t want to preached at, at every turn. Your bathrooms are full of them.  “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner huge them tight.” True! “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray; your own sins will be forgiven.” True! And on and on it goes. Peter annoys me in the gospel reading today. He is a good guy, don’t get me wrong, but he is always popping up. He could do with some therapy, a little bit of self-esteem. It is as if he wants Jesus to keep telling him how marvelous he is. He asks, “Lord if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” The critic in me would say, “Peter, are you trying to impress Jesus with your as many as seven times?” Give me a break. Are you wanting your sticker for being a good boy? Did you give the teacher the good answer? Peter reveals that he has the mind of a Pharisee. He measures everything. We all do that. Knowing us, I suspect we would have said, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? Is two times enough? What about one time? Surely that is plenty.” Jesus goes on to tell us his parable story about the King and the man who owed him a debt. The King was very nice and forgave the loan. Then the debtor met with those who owed him in turn. The Debtor was terrible mean and punished the lot of them. It all came to shouts and screams at the end when the Debtor was found out and the King had him punished. The message of Jesus tells us to get away from this mindset that measures everything. No, seven times to forgive is not enough. If you are going to be a forgiving person then you must look for every opportunity to find a way to forgive. It kinds of demands divine grace because with some of those who did me wrong I have to climb above my natural instinct to give them a black eye. I guess I won’t get my satisfaction this time, but I am sure I am going to Heaven instead. Woohooo!
With love, Fr. Pat