Providence Prayer and Forgiveness

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite us to seek and accept the support of God through prayer and forgiveness of our debts as we also forgive our debtors.

Prayer for Forgiveness

The Reading from the Book of Daniel proclaims the Prayer of Azariah

* [3:24–90] These verses are additions to the Aramaic text of Daniel, translated from the Greek form of the book. They were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but are no longer extant in the original language. The Roman Catholic Church has always regarded them as part of the canonical Scriptures.

* [3:25] Azariah: i.e., Abednego; cf. Dn 1:7. (“Daniel, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB,” n.d.)

Psalm 25 mixes ardent pleas with expressions of confidence in God.

* [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides. (“Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB,” n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches forgiveness with The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

* [18:21–35] The final section of the discourse deals with the forgiveness that the disciples are to give to their fellow disciples who sin against them. To the question of Peter how often forgiveness is to be granted (Mt 18:21), Jesus answers that it is to be given without limit (Mt 18:22) and illustrates this with the parable of the unmerciful servant (Mt 18:23–34), warning that his heavenly Father will give those who do not forgive the same treatment as that given to the unmerciful servant (Mt 18:35). Mt 18:21–22 correspond to Lk 17:4; the parable and the final warning are peculiar to Matthew. That the parable did not originally belong to this context is suggested by the fact that it really does not deal with repeated forgiveness, which is the point of Peter’s question and Jesus’ reply.

* [18:22] Seventy-seven times: the Greek corresponds exactly to the LXX of Gn 4:24. There is probably an allusion, by contrast, to the limitless vengeance of Lamech in the Genesis text. In any case, what is demanded of the disciples is limitless forgiveness.

* [18:24] A huge amount: literally, “ten thousand talents.” The talent was a unit of coinage of high but varying value depending on its metal (gold, silver, copper) and its place of origin. It is mentioned in the New Testament only here and in Mt 25:14–30.

* [18:26] Pay you back in full: an empty promise, given the size of the debt.

* [18:28] A much smaller amount: literally, “a hundred denarii.” A denarius was the normal daily wage of a laborer. The difference between the two debts is enormous and brings out the absurdity of the conduct of the Christian who has received the great forgiveness of God and yet refuses to forgive the relatively minor offenses done to him.

* [18:34] Since the debt is so great as to be unpayable, the punishment will be endless.

* [18:35] The Father’s forgiveness, already given, will be withdrawn at the final judgment for those who have not imitated his forgiveness by their own. (“Matthew, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB,” n.d.)

Kimberly Grassmeyer shares thoughts about Jesus telling us that we must forgive our brethren not seven times, but seventy-seven times, as in today’s Gospel lesson.

Forgiveness asks only that we clear OUR hearts.  The ‘other’ then has their own decision to make, in terms of what they choose to do with our forgiveness.

Jesus wants to help us clear our hearts of such pain.  God’s promise of love is actualized when we can lay down the burden of anger, hatred, or frustration, even when the pain of a physical loss, injury, or death are the outcome requiring a compassionate response. NOT forgiving can deepen and prolong the pain we already carry.  True forgiveness can heal it.  Jesus is asking us to forgive, always, as he so eloquently did on the Cross.  I pray that with God’s help, I’ll be able to meet that call each and every time. Amen. (Grassmeyer, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “A daily remedy for our sins,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. Let us say this sentence with sincerity, because it is an alms in itself. Sins that oppress and bury us cannot be termed trifles! What is more minute than drops of rain? Yet they fill the rivers. What is more minute than grains of wheat? Yet they fill the barns. You note the fact that these sins are rather small, but you do not take note that there are many of them. In any case, God has given us a daily remedy for them." (excerpt from Sermon 205,1) (Schwager, n.d.)

 

Friar Jude Winkler notes the hymn in the Book of Daniel is proclaimed when the young men including Azariah are thrown into the furnace and need God’s intervention. In Matthew’s Gospel, Peter asks about forgiving an infinite number of times and Jesus cites that there is no limit for forgiveness. God has forgiven us and we forgive others because of their need and we recognize their brokenness. Friar Jude comments that we may have to keep some toxic people at arm’s length. He cites the observation that resentment is poison for us as Nelson Mandella knew and warned us against.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Daniel 3:25, 34-43 comments that in this dangerous situation, Azariah does what he has always done, in good times and bad: he turns to the Lord and prays. His habit of praying in every situation has become so ingrained in him that he naturally turns to prayer even in the most dire circumstances. So let’s use this prayer as a model for ourselves.

Like Azariah, we should always start our prayer with God himself.

Like Azariah, we should confess our wrongdoing and repent for ourselves and on behalf of God’s people.

Third, Azariah promises that Israel will “follow [God] unreservedly.” 

Finally, Azariah asks God to bless his people. 

May we all follow Azariah’s example as we come to the Lord in prayer in good times and in bad!

“Lord, teach me to pray, especially when it is difficult.” (“Meditation on Daniel 3:25, 34-43,” n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Author Barbara Brown Taylor who describes the suffering we experience when we live from a sense of disconnection.

Repentance begins with the decision to return to relationship: to accept our God-given place in community, and to choose a way of life that increases life for all members of that community. Needless to say, this often involves painful changes, which is why most of us prefer remorse to repentance. We would rather say, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I feel really, really awful about what I have done” than actually start doing things differently.…

“All sins are attempts to fill voids,” wrote the French philosopher Simone Weil. Because we cannot stand the God-shaped hole inside of us, we try stuffing it full of all sorts of things, but it refuses to be filled. It rejects all substitutes…. It is the holy of holies inside of us, which only God may fill….

I do not believe that sin is the enemy we often make it out to be, at least not when we recognize it and name it as such. When we see how we have turned away from God, then and only then do we have what we need to begin turning back. Sin is our only hope, the fire alarm that wakes us up to the possibility of true repentance. (Rohr, 2025)

We ask the Spirit to guide our wisdom in our prayer, contemplation, and action to understand and act to be people of freedom through forgiveness.

References

Daniel, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/3?25 

Grassmeyer, K. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-10-2026 

Matthew, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18?21 

Meditation on Daniel 3:25, 34-43. (n.d.). Word Among Us. https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/10/1515595/ 

Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/25?4 

Rohr, R. (2025, March 13). Disconnected Living. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/disconnected-living/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). How Often Shall I Forgive? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Hope and Testing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to act in faith and dialogue with the people at our well about a fulfilling life.

The Living Water

The Reading from the Book of Exodus presents Water from the Rock

* [17:7] Massah…Meribah: Hebrew words meaning, respectively, “the place of the test” and “the place of strife, of quarreling.” (Exodus, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 95 calls the people to praise and worship God

* [Psalm 95] Twice the Psalm calls the people to praise and worship God (Ps 95:1–2, 6), the king of all creatures (Ps 95:3–5) and shepherd of the flock (Ps 95:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns the people to be more faithful than were their ancestors in the journey to the promised land (Ps 95:7c–11). This invitation to praise God regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. (Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans proclaims Faith, Hope, and Love

* [5:1–11] Popular piety frequently construed reverses and troubles as punishment for sin; cf. Jn 9:2. Paul therefore assures believers that God’s justifying action in Jesus Christ is a declaration of peace. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ displays God’s initiative in certifying humanity for unimpeded access into the divine presence. Reconciliation is God’s gift of pardon to the entire human race. Through faith one benefits personally from this pardon or, in Paul’s term, is justified. The ultimate aim of God is to liberate believers from the pre-Christian self as described in Rom 1–3. Since this liberation will first find completion in the believer’s resurrection, salvation is described as future in Rom 5:10. Because this fullness of salvation belongs to the future it is called the Christian hope. Paul’s Greek term for hope does not, however, suggest a note of uncertainty, to the effect: “I wonder whether God really means it.” Rather, God’s promise in the gospel fills believers with expectation and anticipation for the climactic gift of unalloyed commitment in the holy Spirit to the performance of the will of God. The persecutions that attend Christian commitment are to teach believers patience and to strengthen this hope, which will not disappoint them because the holy Spirit dwells in their hearts and imbues them with God’s love (Rom 5:5). (Romans, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents Jesus encounter with The Samaritan Woman.

* [4:4] He had to: a theological necessity; geographically, Jews often bypassed Samaria by taking a route across the Jordan.

* [4:5] Sychar: Jerome identifies this with Shechem, a reading found in Syriac manuscripts.

* [4:9] Samaritan women were regarded by Jews as ritually impure, and therefore Jews were forbidden to drink from any vessel they had handled.

* [4:10] Living water: the water of life, i.e., the revelation that Jesus brings; the woman thinks of “flowing water,” so much more desirable than stagnant cistern water. On John’s device of such misunderstanding, cf. note on Jn 3:3.

* [4:11] Sir: the Greek kyrios means “master” or “lord,” as a respectful mode of address for a human being or a deity; cf. Jn 4:19. It is also the word used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew ’adônai, substituted for the tetragrammaton YHWH.

* [4:20] This mountain: Gerizim, on which a temple was erected in the fourth century B.C. by Samaritans to rival Mount Zion in Jerusalem; cf. Dt 27:4 (Mount Ebal = the Jews’ term for Gerizim).

* [4:23] In Spirit and truth: not a reference to an interior worship within one’s own spirit. The Spirit is the spirit given by God that reveals truth and enables one to worship God appropriately (Jn 14:16–17). Cf. “born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5).

* [4:25] The expectations of the Samaritans are expressed here in Jewish terminology. They did not expect a messianic king of the house of David but a prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15).

* [4:26] I am he: it could also be translated “I am,” an Old Testament self-designation of Yahweh (Is 43:3, etc.); cf. Jn 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5–6, 8. See note on Mk 6:50.

* [4:27] Talking with a woman: a religious and social restriction that Jesus is pictured treating as unimportant.

* [4:35] ‘In four months… ’: probably a proverb; cf. Mt 9:37–38.

* [4:36] Already: this word may go with the preceding verse rather than with Jn 4:36.

* [4:39] The woman is presented as a missionary, described in virtually the same words as the disciples are in Jesus’ prayer (Jn 17:20). (John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ comments on the Readings today.

A Spring of Water Welling up to Eternal Life

Don Schwager quotes “The Living Water of the Spirit,” by John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD.

Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit "fire," other times it calls it "water." In this way, it shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation. For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different substances... In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of "fire," alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its power of destroying sins, he calls it "water" in order to highlight the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the readings today.

The Word Among Us Meditation is on Exodus 17:3-7.

An Illusion of Separateness

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, explores a broad definition of the word “sin”:

We seek the Wisdom and Calm of the Spirit to engage the people on our journey about our “living water” that is our faith in Christ.

References

Exodus, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/17?3 

John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/4?5 

Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/95?1 

Romans, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/5?1 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). A Spring of Water Welling up to Eternal Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/