Learning to forgive seventy-seven times
03/10/2026
Matthew 18:21-35 Peter
approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often
must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not
seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be
likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he
began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge
amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be
sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of
the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient
with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of
that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left,
he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He
seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I
will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he
paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they
were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you
your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your
fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over
to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly
Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
Are you familiar with the term
Copernican Revolution? It refers to the astronomer Copernicus who posited and
proved a heliocentric worldview instead of the prevailing geocentric model in
the 16th century. That is, he was convinced the sun was at the center of the
solar system rather than the earth, as the Greek astronomer Ptolemy had
proposed. The Catholic Church censured Copernicus because his perspective
clashed with the Christian faith, and we have regretted it every since. Today
we are much more sympathetic toward science.
But the phrase “Copernican
Revolution” has been adopted ever since to suggest a fundamental shift in
thinking, or as we say today a paradigm shift. In other words, something we
previously thought was paramount or central has been replaced by a new concept
that essentially reorders and reshapes our understanding of the world. It is
like falling in love, when another person (a beautiful woman), rather than I,
stand at the center of my life. Or, like having a baby. The universe revolves
around another tiny someone else, not me. That paradigm shift would be a
personal Copernican Revolution.
In the gospel today Jesus proposes
in effect a Copernican Revolution for St. Petere and the Church. That is, our
Lord suggest that instead of putting ourselves at the center of our world, we
should put God the Father. Peter should try to see matters, indeed, all
matters, through the eyes of the heavenly Father, and therefore everything,
especially everyone, will look radically different. Even Peter himself will
look different. And since this gospel forms 14 verses of Matthew 18, the
chapter on the Church, this new view has profound implications for the Church’s
self-understanding as well.
Peter asks sensibly (like we all
might): “How often must I forgive my brother who sins against me, as many as
seven times?” And bear in mind that Peter thought he was being generous in
forgiving by saying “seven times.” After
all, isn’t seven the number of perfection? But Jesus exponentially raises the
stakes by answering: “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”
Then Jesus explains the parable of forgiveness and how servants should forgive
one another. But did you noticed how Jesus began? He said: “That is why the
Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king…” To a king.
In other words, Peter was seeing
forgiveness through the eyes of the two servants. In that reckoning, a servant
who demands something owed him would be justified in treating his lazy fellow
servant harshly. But what if the servants, and their petty complaints and
injustices, were not the primary concern, but rather how the king saw and
settled things?
That paradigm shift from the
servants’ view to the king’s view is the Copernican Revolution that Jesus was
inviting Peter, as the head of his Church, to embrace. You are not the center
of your universe, the Father is. And what do fathers want for their sons: to
forgive each other as many times as it takes.
My friends, who is the center of
your universe? That is, who does your universe revolve around? Is it yourself,
or your children, or your grandchildren? How differently we might look at and
approach international relations, like the current war in Iran, if we saw
matter through the eyes of God the Father, instead of through our own lens of
self-interest, self-preservation, and self-promotion? In other words, Peter is
not the only one in need of a Copernican Revolution: we all are, and we need it
constantly.
In a sense, this paradigm shift is precisely the reason for
Lent. Through the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and alms-giving, we are
supposed to push ourselves out of the center-spot in our universe of concerns,
and place there instead the Father and our suffering brothers and sisters. And
incidentally, this spiritual Copernican Revolution will happen regardless of
whether we want it to or not. It will come either voluntarily on earth, or
involuntarily in purgatory. I recommend we adopt it sooner rather than later,
not like the Church in the 16th century.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
