Tuesday of the Third Week
But with contrite hearts and humble spirit, let us be received...and now we follow You with our whole hearts...deal with us in Your kindness and great mercy. Daniel 3:39, 42-43
As I read today’s Scripture readings, I felt the continual tug, the ebb and flow—our moving near to God, then stumbling and falling away, turning back towards God with contrition and humility, and drawing near again through God’s compassion and mercy. There are so many times that I think, “This time will be different. This time, I won’t stumble. I won’t fail. I won’t miss the mark.” And then, there I am—in need of God’s mercy once again.
In the Gospel, we hear Jesus’ appeal to us to forgive “not seven times, but seventy-seven times,” so essentially, over and over again. But what really stuck me this time when reflecting on this familiar passage, was not the call to continually extend forgiveness, but rather how we are to do it. The last verse after the parable of the servant who did not show mercy to his fellow servants after receiving mercy from his master, says, “forgive your brother [or sister] from your heart” and the verse before the Gospel implores us to “return to me with your whole heart, for I am gracious and merciful.” Our whole hearts—that is a big ask. I wonder if we often extend forgiveness through our words and in our minds, but do we truly forgive from our hearts? That feels too vulnerable. Too risky. It asks us to give up control of our hurt and let go completely of any resentment or bitterness to which we might be clinging. But Jesus wants us to forgive with our whole hearts. And when we do, we are able to extend God’s kindness, mercy, and compassion to those who are in need of it, as God has done to us over and over again.
Prayer
Merciful God, in this Lenten season, may we turn back towards You with a humble spirit and return to You with our whole hearts. May we then offer forgiveness with our whole hearts to those who have hurt us by extending love and compassion to them. Amen.
Anna Lester, ’98, M’11, Assistant Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry
Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website
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