Beginning with Forgiveness

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today contrast our comfort with repetition of rules of behaviour with the challenge of knowing deeper love through giving and accepting forgiveness.

Road to Forgiveness

The reading from the Book of Joshua describes Crossing the Jordan

* [3:15] Season of the harvest: toward the end of March and the beginning of April, when the barley and other crops that grew during the rainy season of winter were reaped. The crossing took place “on the tenth day of the first month” of the Hebrew year, which began with the first new moon after the spring equinox; cf. 4:19. At this time of the year the Jordan would be swollen as a result of the winter rains and the melting snow of Mount Hermon.

* [3:16] Some scholars have suggested that this account may reflect an annual ritual reenactment of the event near the sanctuary of Gilgal. (Joshua, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 114 celebrates Israel’s escape from Egypt.

* [Psalm 114] A hymn celebrating Israel’s escape from Egypt, journey through the wilderness, and entry into the promised land, and the miracles of nature that bore witness to God’s presence in their midst. In the perspective of the Psalm, the people proceed directly from Egypt into the promised land (Ps 114:1–2). Sea and Jordan, which stood like soldiers barring the people from their land, flee before the mighty God as the earth recoils from the battle (Ps 114:3–4). The poet taunts the natural elements as one taunts defeated enemies (Ps 114:5–6). (Psalms, PSALM 114 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches 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.)

Tom Lenz comments that Matthew’s Gospel has gotten him thinking more deeply about sin and forgiveness, in general. Growing up Catholic the notion of sin was (and still is) a “hot button” issue that has lots of charged emotions associated with it.

So, as I think about the notion of sin and the essential fundamental nature of connectedness, it helps me understand both sin and forgiveness. Sin, in whatever context, seems to make sense as an intentional movement away, while love in an intentional movement towards. When we sin, we have intentionally chosen to not be connected to another person, nature, or to ourselves. We no longer allow the flow of Love through the connectedness and therefore disconnect ourselves from God that exists in all things. But when we forgive, we open (or reopen) the flow of Love through our intentional connectedness. Through forgiveness we consciously make the decision to connect with the other and allow our hearts to again give and receive the Love that is God. This is why seventy-seven times (infinity) is the answer from Jesus to Peter. To do anything less would be to cut off the flow of Love/God within, between, and among us. (Lenz, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “How often shall I forgive?” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).

"When Peter asked him whether he should forgive his brother sinning against him up to seven times, the Lord replied, 'Not up to seven times but up to seventy times seven times'" In every way he teaches us to be like him in humility and goodness. In weakening and breaking the impulses of our rampant passions he strengthens us by the example of his leniency, by granting us in faith pardon of all our sins. For the vices of our nature did not merit pardon. Therefore all pardon comes from him. In fact, he pardons even those sins that remain in one after confession. The penalty to be paid through Cain was established at sevenfold, but that sin was against a man, against his brother Abel, to the point of murder (Genesis 4:8). But in Lamech the penalty was established at seventy times seven times (Genesis 4:24), and, as we believe, the penalty was established on those responsible for the Lord's Passion. But the Lord through the confession of believers grants pardon for this crime. By the gift of baptism he grants the grace of salvation to his revilers and persecutors. How much more is it necessary, he shows, that pardon be returned by us without measure or number. And we should not think how many times we forgive, but we should cease to be angry with those who sin against us, as often as the occasion for anger exists. Pardon's frequency shows us that in our case there is never a time for anger, since God pardons us for all sins in their entirety by his gift rather than by our merit. Nor should we be excused from the requirement of giving pardon that number of times [i.e., seventy times seven], since through the grace of the gospel God has granted us pardon without measure." (excerpt from ON MATTHEW 18.10) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. The Joshua reading tells of leading the people across the Jordan. In a parallel to leaving Egypt. God acts again with a miraculous deed. The Gospel addresses the question of “How often to forgive?” The perfect number, 7, and much more suggests there is no limit for forgiveness. Ignatius Loyola urges us to have the desire to forgive. Holding on to anger hurts ourselves. We forgive them because they need it. The parable tells of punishment for the servant who fails to forgive. Friar Jude asks “What gift of faith did they receive?” “Of the one who receives more, more is expected”.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes how Paul’s understanding of Jesus’ death critiques both the conservatives and liberals of his day. Paul sees the Jews trying to create order in the world by obedience to law, tradition, and kinship ties. The Greeks attempt order through reason, understanding, logic, and education. Paul has a unique vantage point, with a foot in each world—as both a Jew and a Roman citizen.

Paul allows both conservatives and liberals 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. He writes, “God has shown up human wisdom as folly” on the cross, and this is “an obstacle that the Jews cannot get over,” and which the gentiles or pagans think is simple “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:21–23). 

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?  (Rohr, n.d.)

We invoke the Spirit to assist as we ponder the paradox of forgiveness of those who have hurt us as the path to fullness of life in our journey.

References

Joshua, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/joshua/3?7 

Lenz, T. (2025, August 14). Daily Reflection August 14, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-14-2025 

Matthew, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18?21 

Psalms, PSALM 114 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/114?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Mystery of the Cross. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-mystery-of-the-cross/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Lord, How Often Shall I Forgive My Brother? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug14 

Humility and Shepherding

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to learn from Jesus' example of leadership that focuses on the needs of the community we are called to serve as a good shepherd.

Humility of the Good Shepherd

The Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy proclaims the Lord’s Leadership and the Call of Joshua.

a. [31:2] Dt 1:37; 3:23–28; 4:21–24; 34:7; Gn 6:3; Ex 7:7; Nm 20:12; Acts 7:23, 30.

b. [31:3] Dt 1:30–33; 3:22, 28; 9:3.

c. [31:4] Dt 2:26–3:7; 3:21–22; Nm 21:21–35.

d. [31:5] Dt 7:1–5; 20:16–18.

e. [31:6] Dt 1:29; 20:3–4.

f. [31:7–8] Dt 1:21; 31:23; Jos 1:6–9; 10:25.

g. [31:8] Ex 3:12; Jos 1:5, 17; 3:7; 2 Sm 7:9. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 31|USCCB, n.d.)

The response is from Deuteronomy 32.

* [32:1–43] The whole song is a poetic sermon, having for its theme the Lord’s benefits to Israel (vv. 1–14) and Israel’s ingratitude and idolatry in turning to the gods of the nations; these sins will be punished by the nations themselves (vv. 15–29); in turn, the foolish pride of the nations will be punished, and the Lord’s honor will be vindicated (vv. 30–43). (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32|USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about The Greatest in the Kingdom and The Parable of the Lost Sheep.

* [18:10–14] The first and last verses are peculiar to Matthew. The parable itself comes from Q; see Lk 15:3–7. In Luke it serves as justification for Jesus’ table-companionship with sinners; here, it is an exhortation for the disciples to seek out fellow disciples who have gone astray. Not only must no one cause a fellow disciple to sin, but those who have strayed must be sought out and, if possible, brought back to the community. The joy of the shepherd on finding the sheep, though not absent in Mt 18:13 is more emphasized in Luke. By his addition of Mt 18:10, 14 Matthew has drawn out explicitly the application of the parable to the care of the little ones.

* [18:10] Their angels in heaven…my heavenly Father: for the Jewish belief in angels as guardians of nations and individuals, see Dn 10:13, 20–21; Tb 5:4–7; 1QH 5:20–22; as intercessors who present the prayers of human beings to God, see Tb 13, 12:15, . The high worth of the little ones is indicated by their being represented before God by these heavenly beings.

* [18:11] Some manuscripts add, “For the Son of Man has come to save what was lost”; cf. Mt 9:13. This is practically identical with Lk 19:10 and is probably a copyist’s addition from that source. (Matthew, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Tamora Whitney comments that children are innocent and trusting. And Jesus insists that the disciples welcome children and other humble powerless people in Jesus’ name. They are specifically warned against turning away anyone who would seem unimportant.

A shepherd with a big herd who found one of his sheep missing would search for that one sheep, even though he had 99 more, and rejoice at finding that lost sheep. A sheep, childlike, is lowly, and is also trusting. It’s the shepherd’s job to keep track of the sheep and keep them safe. Even if the shepherd might not feel the loss of one sheep out of a hundred, what would happen to the sheep that went astray? It would be in danger, out of the protection of its community. The shepherd has a responsibility to protect all the flock. The shepherd who finds and regains the lost sheep not only feels joy at regaining his property that might be lost but also relief in knowing that the sheep is now safe with the others.

God rejoices in the return of one of his own who was thought to be lost but is returned. But it’s not only because God wants a bigger following, but because he realizes that we, like sheep, out of our community are lost and in danger. Returned to the fold we can be safe in his protection in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Whitney, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “What it means to become a child of God,” by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century).

"Here the Lord not only repressed the apostles' thoughts but also checked the ambition of believers throughout the whole world, so that he might be great who wanted to be least. For with this purpose Jesus used the example of the child, that what he had been through his nature, we through our holy living might become - innocent, like children innocent of every sin. For a child does not know how to hold resentment or to grow angry. He does not know how to repay evil for evil. He does not think base thoughts. He does not commit adultery or arson or murder. He is utterly ignorant of theft or brawling or all the things that will draw him to sin. He does not know how to disparage, how to blaspheme, how to hurt, how to lie. He believes what he hears. What he is ordered he does not analyze. He loves his parents with full affection. Therefore what children are in their simplicity, let us become through a holy way of life, as children innocent of sin. And quite rightly, one who has become a child innocent of sin in this way is greater in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives such a person will receive Christ." (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 27) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. The Deuteronomy reading is a commendation of Moses to the people of Israel reminding them of the good the Lord has done . They are urged to be strong and steadfast even if Moses is going away. To receive the Kingdom, we have to trust, be innocent and meek with wonder and awe and we will be able to embrace the kingdom. The idea of the Guardian Angels assigned to protect us from material and moral danger is resonant in the Gospel. Friar Jude suggests the 99 could complain about seeking the lost sheep.  The lost one needs help. The broken need the attention calling Jesus to go out of His way to save our brother and sister. We are called to the same compassion.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, writes of conversion as an experience of participating in divine reality. 

A participatory theology says, “I am being chosen, I am being led, I am being used.” After conversion, you know that your life is not about you; you are about life! You are about God. You’re an instance of both the agony and the ecstasy of God that is already happening inside of you, and all you can do is say yes to it. That’s conversion and it changes everything.

True union does not absorb distinctions, but actually intensifies them. The more we give of ourselves in creative union with another, the more we become our authentic self. This is mirrored in the Trinity: perfect giving and perfect receiving between three persons who are all still completely themselves. The more we become our True Self, the more capable we are of not overprotecting the boundaries of the false self. We have nothing to protect after transformation, and that’s the great freedom and the great happiness we see in converted people like Paul. As Paul puts it, “Because of Christ, I now consider my former advantages as disadvantages.… All of it is mere rubbish if only I can have a place in him” (Philippians 3:7–8). (Rohr, n.d.)

We invoke the Spirit to illuminate our action in response to our Baptismal Anointing as priest, prophet, and especially leader who loves and cares for his sheep.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 31|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/31?1 

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/32?3 

Matthew, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Paul’s Conversion and Our Own. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/pauls-conversion-and-our-own/  

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug12 

Whitney, T. (2025, August 12). Daily Reflection August 12, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 12, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-12-2025