D
distracted
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**March 9, 2010 **
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 238
Reading I
Dn 3:25, 34-43
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us…
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins…
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy…
Responsorial Psalm
25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
Gospel
Mt 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
***‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’***Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
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 him 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 your brother from your heart.”
.
***i think a lot of people do not fully understand this passage… for many reasons. I notice that the person who is in the Master’s hands begs 4 mercy and is willing to pay back the debt… He is required (by justice) to pay it back w/ everything he has…
He doesn’t just beg for forgiveness… He asks for time to pay the debt back***… The Master wipes out the whole debt… That’s God’s infinite mercy. What is not always u/stood is that the person he then finds, who owes him a smaller debt also begs for time to pay the debt back. The servant showed no mercy because he didn’t grant what the person asked for, time to pay off the debt… much less did he forgive the entire debt… If he had allowed the person to pay the debt back, he undoubtedly wouldn’t have gotten into trouble with the Master… but of course, he didnt…
this is about Purgatory because it says in the end that the Father will do this same thing (torture) if we do not forgive one another from our hearts… It is Purg rather than Hell because it says that the torture will last until the debt is paid… (it is not eternal like Hell)
I wonder if we are to forgive “from the heart” (whatever that may mean exactly) when a person has or seems 2 have absolutely NO desire or intention to pay back the debt? They don’t seem the least bit sorry… I mean, if someone… well, say a parent molested his child and the child grows up and has a hard time forgiving the parent… The parent doesn’t even admit he did something wrong ( to the victim or anyone else)… Does this psg apply in that situation??? Yes, i know we are always to forgive as best we can, but as far as wiping out the enitre debt… that may be a different story. People go to Purgatory because they have done, & attempted to do, all that Jesus requires… They are forgiven…they just need to be cleansed of the effects of sin on their soul… People who never repent (the aforementioned child molester)… well… i am not sure we need to just wipe out the entire slate in that case… Yes we need to forgive, but… wiping out the entire slate of that sin would seem to entail maintaining a relationship w/ the offenidng parent… and so… that is NOT a good thing… it is not good to be friends w/ someone who is not repentant about what he did wrong and has not made any effort to make it up to the victim…
:coffeeread:
thoughts? I admit i may be missing something … but people often overlook the fact that… or the idea that the person who is sorry has an obligation to at least attempt to pay off the debt… not just say, “Oh, sorry about that…” and go about his business… Talk is cheap… You don’t – for example – just steal someone’s car and then say, “Oh, sorry about that…” & go about your business, without giving the car back…
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 238
Reading I
Dn 3:25, 34-43
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us…
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins…
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy…
Responsorial Psalm
25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
Gospel
Mt 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
***‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’***Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
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 him 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 your brother from your heart.”
.
***i think a lot of people do not fully understand this passage… for many reasons. I notice that the person who is in the Master’s hands begs 4 mercy and is willing to pay back the debt… He is required (by justice) to pay it back w/ everything he has…
He doesn’t just beg for forgiveness… He asks for time to pay the debt back***… The Master wipes out the whole debt… That’s God’s infinite mercy. What is not always u/stood is that the person he then finds, who owes him a smaller debt also begs for time to pay the debt back. The servant showed no mercy because he didn’t grant what the person asked for, time to pay off the debt… much less did he forgive the entire debt… If he had allowed the person to pay the debt back, he undoubtedly wouldn’t have gotten into trouble with the Master… but of course, he didnt…
this is about Purgatory because it says in the end that the Father will do this same thing (torture) if we do not forgive one another from our hearts… It is Purg rather than Hell because it says that the torture will last until the debt is paid… (it is not eternal like Hell)
I wonder if we are to forgive “from the heart” (whatever that may mean exactly) when a person has or seems 2 have absolutely NO desire or intention to pay back the debt? They don’t seem the least bit sorry… I mean, if someone… well, say a parent molested his child and the child grows up and has a hard time forgiving the parent… The parent doesn’t even admit he did something wrong ( to the victim or anyone else)… Does this psg apply in that situation??? Yes, i know we are always to forgive as best we can, but as far as wiping out the enitre debt… that may be a different story. People go to Purgatory because they have done, & attempted to do, all that Jesus requires… They are forgiven…they just need to be cleansed of the effects of sin on their soul… People who never repent (the aforementioned child molester)… well… i am not sure we need to just wipe out the entire slate in that case… Yes we need to forgive, but… wiping out the entire slate of that sin would seem to entail maintaining a relationship w/ the offenidng parent… and so… that is NOT a good thing… it is not good to be friends w/ someone who is not repentant about what he did wrong and has not made any effort to make it up to the victim…
:coffeeread:thoughts? I admit i may be missing something … but people often overlook the fact that… or the idea that the person who is sorry has an obligation to at least attempt to pay off the debt… not just say, “Oh, sorry about that…” and go about his business… Talk is cheap… You don’t – for example – just steal someone’s car and then say, “Oh, sorry about that…” & go about your business, without giving the car back…