Reflection
Ezekiel 12:1-12
Psalm 78
Matthew 18:21 - 19:1
Oh get over it already. Easy words to say. Little hard, however, for us to swallow if someone is saying it directly to us. Here’s the deal though, that is exactly what Jesus is calling us to do in today’s gospel. And Jesus does it in pretty dramatic language. – look at Matthew 18:33 where Jesus is telling the disciples the parable of the servant seeking mercy from his master but the servant is not willing to extend it to his fellow servants: “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”
When we seek God’s mercy, we are seeking His pity. If we trace the word “pity” to its origins we find our way to the Greek word for mercy. God looks on us in a way that goes beyond feeling bad for us as we can sometimes interpret the word “pity” to mean. Rather, He extends His mercy to us, which is to say He shows us His benevolence – an act of taking a person and improving their very state in life by moving the person from a bad position to a better position.
In essence, God calls us to help others be in a better place because they engaged us in some type of relationship. St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta would say that we should always make people happy they interacted with us that day. Well, a great way to do that is to always move them to a better place, and a great way to do that is to extend forgiveness…just like we ask God to do for us.
Even if you are not in a position to actually say the words “I forgive you” to someone today, definitely forgive them in your heart – and then want only good things for them. Holding onto something today that you just really need to get over already?
It is a great day - smile at God today!