By Manoj Kulanthai Rathinam csc –
Readings: Sir 27:30-28:7; Rom 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35
Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful is the theme that we reflect on today. In the first reading, we read, “remember the covenant, and ignore the offence.” and in the gospel, we hear, forgive as many times as possible. Jesus says that we need to be merciful as the heavenly Father is merciful.
Jesus gives us a beautiful example of a king and his servant in which we find how one needs to be generous in forgiving the other. We go through this in our lives: either we forgive others or are forgiven by others, this is our day-to-day life, and we cannot deny it. Jesus gives us a great invitation to be merciful to others because we do not live for ourselves, but we live for Christ as St. Paul writes in his letter to Romans.
Our purpose is to live for Christ and to die for Christ. As long as we live, we need to live like Christ, who came from heaven to show us the mercy of the Father. He came to save us and fill us with his mercy. As we children experience mercy from him, we are encouraged to live like the Father. Jesus also gives us a warning that if we are not merciful, heavenly Father also will not be to us. Let us examine ourselves and live our lives that will please our heavenly Father.