Scripture Study for

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

The tone of the passage from Sirach is set in the first verse. Wrath and anger  may be instinctive responses to situations in life, but they are abhorrent if they  are permanent dispositions of mind and heart. The certainty of death should  prompt us to set aside anger or wrath. Life is too short to bear attitudes that can  undermine our spirits. Sirach insists on the need to forgive others, for we too  need to be forgiven. The basis of this teaching is not forgiveness by others, but  forgiveness by God. We must be willing to extend to others the same gracious  compassion that God has extended to us. 

Paul maintains that Christ, by virtue of his death and resurrection, exercises  power over life and death. In like manner, those who are joined to Christ are  joined permanently. Nothing, neither life nor death, can separate them from the  love of Christ (see Romans 8:38). He further insists that in every aspect of life  and even in death, Christians are under the lordship of Christ. Having conquered  death by means of his resurrection, Christ has gained lordship over all. Whether  they live or they die, they belong to Christ and are accountable to Christ. This  understanding is the bedrock of Christian ethics. 

The rabbis taught that the duty to forgive was fulfilled if one forgave an  offender three times. Peter must have thought that he was being extraordinarily  generous if he forgave seven times. However, Jesus indicates that not even this  is enough. He insists that we must be willing to forgive seventy-seven times.  In other words, there must be no limit to our forgiveness. The radical nature  of Jesus’ parable illustrates this. With one simple statement Jesus draws a connection between the generosity of the king and that of God. If God is willing to  forgive the exorbitant debt we owe God, surely we can forgive the paltry debts  owed us. 

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