The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the increase in our fullness of life that results from forgiveness for others and ourselves.
Forgiveness
The passage from the Aramaic text of the Book of Daniel is 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.1
Psalm 25 is a prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance.
* [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.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches forgiveness in 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.3
David Crawford concludes that being forgiven is inextricably linked to forgiving others and forgiveness is an all or nothing enterprise.
So forgive, instead of counting, as an act of obedience that yields immense benefits. Recognize that being able to forgive fully and completely is not a burden, it is a blessing. When we are able to forgive, we are freed from feelings and forces that harm us and those around us. We can let go of anger, hatred, bitterness, hurt, even judgmental self-righteousness. Letting go frees us from those pains (and from the chore of keeping count), and it allows us to change our focus away from what was done to us so that we can recall the many good things done for us. You may not feel that the person who offended you deserves to be forgiven – but you deserve the blessing of being able to forgive. Gracious and merciful Lord, thank you for forgiving us. Help us to forgive so that we can follow you with our whole hearts.4
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)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Daniel 3:25, 34-43 comments that although Azariah was already a devout man, his decision to stand up to Nebuchadnezzar no doubt truly tested his faith. The fire also seemed to deepen his awareness of how his own sins could have contributed to his people’s defeat and exile. Sometimes the threat of some sort of “fire” can jolt us into a different perspective.
It’s easier to lose sight of the Lord when our lives are going well. It’s the fires that make us cry out to him. We may not welcome these fires, but God, in his infinite wisdom, can use them to deepen our holiness. Even if he doesn’t rescue us from the fire in the miraculous way he protected Azariah, he will be with us in the fire, and he will use it to purify us and draw us closer to him. “Lord, teach me how to praise you and trust you in the fire, just as Azariah did.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the penitential prayer of Azariah is a realization that deliverance comes through the kindness and mercy of God. The parable of the unforgiving servant is not a revelation of purgatory. Friar Jude reminds us that the motive for forgiveness is “need” even as it applies to our worst enemy.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Paul allows both conservatives (Jews) and liberals (Greeks) to define wisdom in their own ways, yet he dares to call both inadequate and finally wrong. He believes that such worldviews will eventually fail people. “God has shown human wisdom as folly” on the cross (1 Corinthians 1:21), and this is “an obstacle that the Jews cannot get over,” and which the Gentiles or pagans think is simple “foolishness” (1:23).
For Paul, the code words for nondual thinking, or true wisdom, are “foolishness” and “folly.” He says, in effect, “My thinking is foolishness to you, isn’t it?” Admittedly, it does not make sense unless we have confronted the mystery of the cross. Suffering, the “folly of the cross,” breaks down the dualistic mind. Why? Because on the cross, God took the worst thing, the killing of the God-human, and made it into the best thing, the very redemption of the world. The compassionate holding of essential meaninglessness or tragedy, as Jesus does on the cross, is the final and triumphant resolution of all the dualisms and dichotomies that we face in our own lives. We are thus “saved by the cross”! Does that now make ultimate sense?7
The Spirit prompts us to non dual spirituality that challenges us to forgive others because they are in need as we are of mercy and healing.
References
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