Text: Saint Matthew 18:21-35

"Why do you keep talking about my past mistakes?" said the Husband. "I thought you had forgiven and forgotten."

"I have, indeed, forgiven and forgotten," said the wife. "But I want to make sure you don't forget that I have forgiven and forgotten."

Sinner: "Remember not my sins, O Lord!"

Lord: "What Sins? I forgot them long ago."

A dying old man lay fearful in his bed that God would not forgive him for a sin he committed earlier in life. The Nurse who was caring for him was aware of his fear and tried to comfort him.

"What was your occupation?" she asked. "I was a stone-cutter all my life, and an excellent one," the man said. To which the Nurse replied: "That was your job. God's job is forgiveness. And He is excellent at it. You have nothing to fear.

A former Yale University Chaplain was once asked by a friend, "In ten words or less, what is the Christian Message?" The Chaplain replied with an eight-word answer: "We're all sinners, but God loves us anyway."

I am a sinner. But God loves me infinitely. God loves me as much as He loves anybody. And God loves everybody (sinners all) as much as He loves me.

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says to His followers, "So when you are offering your gift at the Altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the Altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24).

And in today's Gospel Reading, the Apostle Peter asks Jesus, "Lord. If another member of the Church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus answers, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:21-22). That is to say, "You must forgive without limit."

To forgive is to acknowledge that only love can overcome the evil that divides and alienates.

To forgive is to acknowledge that only love can heal our wounded relationships with one another.

To forgive is to acknowledge that only love can clear away the debris carried over from our unresolved past.

I am a sinner, Lord …
Forgive me for being self-righteous!
Forgive me for those times when I was too busy to listen!
Forgive me for being unkind to other human beings!
Forgive me for using and exploiting other human beings.

We are the Church of Jesus Christ. Forgive us Lord, for our failure to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel effectively, both in word and in deed!

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" Jesus said (John 14:6). He did not say, merely, "I shall tell you the way so you can learn about it" or "I shall show you the way so you can seek it." Rather, He said, "I am the Way, so you can find it when you come to Me."

He did not merely say, "I shall tell you the truth so you can be informed," or I shall show you the Truth," so you can embrace it when you come to know Him.

He did not say "I can tell you of the Life," so you can be aware of it, or, "I shall show you the Life," so you can desire it. Jesus said, "I am the Life," so you can live it when you come to Life in Him.

We cannot come to Him, we cannot come to know Him, we cannot come to Life in Him, with unforgiving hearts.

Often an unforgiving heart is the consequence of wanting to be in control of someone else's life. And that is usually the case of wanting that someone else to be just like us, without respect or regard for the other's individuality. But here we are now at the Altar and here is Jesus saying, "First be reconciled to your brother - or sister, or friend, or child, or parent, or neighbor, or enemy - and then come and offer your gift."

There is an Old Native American saying that reminds us of that, "If you want to understand someone else, you must walk a mile in the other person's moccasins."

To be the kind of persons Christ wants us to be, we must empathize - put ourselves in the other's place, feel the other's pain, sense the other's needs.

We must strive to call forth the best in the other person. We must forgive, and accept forgiveness.

This is an especially important lesson for parents of growing children to keep before them …

When there is conflict, as there inevitably will during the adolescent and teenage years, parents should remember that they are better equipped to empathize and to understand than the child is. The parents, after all, have been there. For these reasons, the parents' responsibility for empathy and understanding is paramount.

Fathers and Mothers have a solemn responsibility to remember what it was like for them during those sometimes bewildering, sometimes frightening early years of their lives.

Parents who are unwilling to do that find themselves responding to their children's mistakes and misadventures as personal affronts.

For example, (How could you do this to me? I'll never forgive you for this.")

On the other hand, parents who are able to say, "I remember. That was me twenty years ago," are more likely to be parents who succeed in giving the essence of the Christian Message to their Children.

We're all sinners, but God Loves Us Anyway. Loved by God and, if loved, forgiven and if forgiven, reconciled.

Forgiveness, which begins with self-forgiveness, can become a constant, ongoing process - a way of living. It means letting go of past resentments and bitterness, and moving on. Of course, it's not always easy, but it's worth every difficulty. And there is nothing mushy or softheaded about loving and forgiving. As Dr. Jonas Salk puts it:

"The end result of forgiving is to release the power in the nucleus of the individual - a power much greater in its positive effects than atomic power in its negative."

The point is this:

If we can be courageous one more time than we are fearful,
Trusting one more time than we are anxious,
Cooperative one more time than we are competitive,
Forgiving one more time than we are vindictive,
Loving one more time than we are hateful,

We will have moved closer to the next big breakthrough in our human growth, and closer to the next big breakthrough toward our human potential.

How many times are we to forgive? Seven times? Jesus says "Not seven times, but seventy-seven times". Remember we do sin BUT we are forgiven by a good a gracious God - who will always look after us, and will love us always.

Thanks be to God!!!!!

Amen!!!