Reflection for Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

Mercy. It is surreal and beautiful. Azariah begs God to have mercy on Israel and not to let them “be put to shame.” Today’s Gospel shows a servant who asks a king for mercy. His loan, a substantial one, is forgiven. The servant then refuses to forgive a smaller loan owed to him by another servant.

Let’s face it, we have trouble forgiving others. We want to believe we’d be as merciful as the king, yet we can be as petty as the unforgiving servant in this Gospel. We need to heed the rest of the story. The king hears from other servants about what the unforgiving one had done. They are “deeply disturbed” by his lack of charity, and the king, in turn, revokes his mercy.

Immaculee Illibagiza witnessed the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. She lost almost all her family. She was nearly killed by extremists in Rwanda. While she was tempted to anger, she felt God had kept her alive to forgive those who wronged her people. She chose to show mercy. She chose to forgive. Let her fantastic witness to mercy inspire you to forgive. If she could forgive the unforgivable, we all can forgive. We simply need to open our hearts to God’s grace to forgive others. That way, no one will be disturbed by our lack of mercy.

Christians are expected to have mercy as a defining attribute of their lives. Let us, therefore, show forth mercy in all that we do. Then, we indeed will be ready to receive the infinite mercy Jesus offers to the world.

Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB