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A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
"Should you not have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?" (Matthew 18:33)
The parable of the merciless servant is about forgiveness and the human heart.
At first, the story is uplifting because we're assured that there is no one, no matter how wicked, who can't confidently hope for God's forgiveness. But as the merciless servant learns, God's forgiveness can never penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have hurt us - Jesus is strict about this.
Alone, we can't do it. In our human weakness, we don't have the power not to feel, or to forget an offense, so we must offer our hearts to Jesus, who forgave those who nailed Him to the Cross. It is there, "in the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed (Catechism 2843), so we must ask the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with Jesus' compassion, and give us the gift of prayer, which extends to the forgiveness of our enemies.
We receive this gift powerfully in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and when we engage in the devotion of the Stations of the Cross, which most parishes now offer throughout Lent. There, our prayer-lives become saturated with Christ's blood when we become a part of His Passion and walk with Him in His heartbreaking journey to Calvary, from the moment He is condemned to death until He is taken from His Mother's arms and laid in the tomb.
Once our own hearts are nailed to the hands and feet of Jesus in spirit, there's nothing left for us to do but forgive.
Blessed Lent!
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Tichvon is a Catholic writer and Consecrated Marian Catechist under the Direction of His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. Always faithful to the Magisterium, she spreads and defends the Catholic faith as a true witness of Christ, confessing the name of Jesus boldly, never ashamed of the Cross.
Elizabeth became aware of the need for the New Evangelization while in the two years of her formation as a Marian Catechist and wrote over 200 published meditations on Sacred Scripture from the daily Liturgy of the Word for various Catholic websites, and following Jesus' example, now teaches through her own parables so that by sharing her stories through social media, might bring others closer to the heart of Christ. She is currently a regular columnist at Catholic365 and as a Marian Catechist, her spiritual life is the foundation of her writing.
She completed UCLA's Graduate Program With Honors and worked as a Paralegal for 32 years before retiring from Chrysler's Office of the General Counsel in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Elizabeth's website may be found at elizabethtichvon.net
