Reflecting God’s Abundance
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 27:30 — 28:7 / Psalm 103:8 / Romans 14:7–9 / Matthew 18:21–35
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Reflecting on the Word
By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger
There is a creek behind the house where my daughter Maria used to live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. In spring, water generously cascades down from the mountaintops; the river sparkles and crashes and seems almost alive. Huge cedar logs float downstream upon that rush of water. You could hear the bubbling of flowing water when her kitchen window was open.
The mercy of God flows upon us like that river of generosity. The psalmist sings of that bounty: The Lord “redeems your life from destruction, and crowns you with kindness and compassion.” Jesus tells of the lavishness of a king who forgives his servant a huge debt. You can hear the bubbling of flowing water.
But today’s Gospel story doesn’t stay with abundance. It devolves rapidly to the servant’s forgetfulness of generosity, which leads him to such meanness and malice that he chokes his fellow servant, demanding immediate repayment. Instead of passing on that generosity, he nourishes anger and holds onto wrath. That is an abomination to the Giver of the river of life!
I was surprised when I’d visit Maria again in September. Her creek had shrunk to a silent trickle. Big logs were stuck in the rocks. Sticks and leaves were trapped behind the logs. Masses of gunk choked off the water. What had flowed in such a lively way in the spring was clogged in the fall.
When we refuse mercy to another, how can we expect to be healed ourselves? We choke off God’s generosity. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” There are no limits to the cascading of God’s mercy. Jesus tells us that there should be no limits to our forgiveness as well. Flow, river, flow!
Consider/Discuss
- In this season of harvest, take some time to look around and be grateful for God’s abundance. How does immersing ourselves in God’s generosity set us free to pour out mercy to others?
- The resentments of earth may pull us down, but the Holy Spirit wants to bubble up and sparkle within you and me. What is blocking us? Where do we find pollution in our lives, the cedar logs of unforgiveness that dam(n) up our souls?
Living and Praying with the Word
Holy Spirit, we open our hearts to you. Fill us with your courage to love so that time after time, even when we’ve been hurt, we forgive. We pain you often. You have forgiven us so many times. Don’t let hard-heartedness choke us. We offer you those people and those issues that bother us. Please put them on a log and let them float down your river. Then bubble up within us and restore our joy.