Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
So Joshua said to the children of Israel, «Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God. This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst, who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites. The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will precede you into the Jordan. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank».
The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest, than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.
The sea beheld and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the lambs of the flock.
Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? You mountains, that you skip like rams? You hills, like the lambs of the flock?
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?”
Fr. Joan BLADÉ i Piñol (Barcelona, Spain)Today, the question “if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” (Mt 18:21) might sound like this: —These people I love so much… I also see their quirks and annoying habits. They frustrate me constantly, they ignore me, they act selfishly. And it’s not just once—it’s day after day. Lord, how long must I put up with them?
Jesus responds with a lesson in patience. In truth, both debtors in the parable say the same thing: “Be patient with me” (Mt 18:26,29). Yet while the merciless servant’s impulsive cruelty—choking a fellow servant over a small debt—leads to his moral and economic ruin, the king’s patience not only spares the debtor, his family, and his possessions, but also elevates the king’s character and wins him the trust of his court. The king’s reaction, as told by Jesus, echoes the words of the psalmist: “But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered” (Ps 130:4).
Of course, we must stand against injustice—and if necessary, do so with strength (to passively tolerate evil may reveal apathy or cowardice). But righteous anger is only healthy when it is free of selfishness, rage, or foolishness, and instead comes from a sincere desire to defend the truth. True Christian patience is what allows us to endure, with mercy, the contradictions, weaknesses, irritations, and untimely demands of people, situations, or things. To be patient is to master oneself. Those who are easily offended or quick tempered cannot be patient, because they lack reflection and self-control.
Patience is a Christian virtue because it is part of the very message of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is shaped by the experience that we all have faults. As St. Paul exhorts us to “bear with one another” (cf. Col 3:12–13), St. Peter reminds us that “the Lord’s patience is our opportunity for salvation” (cf. 2 Pet 3:15).
And truly, how many times has the good Lord forgiven us in the confessional? Seven times? Seventy-seven times? Perhaps even more!
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“If you are looking for an example of patience, you will find the best of them in the Cross. Great was the patience of Christ on the cross” (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
“The Lord takes his time. But even He, in this relationship with us, has a lot of patience. And he awaits us until the end of life! Let us think of the good thief, who, right at the end, recognized God” (Francisco)
"Hence the laity … are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nº 901)
