Homily for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent

Peter was a prominent figure in the community in which Matthew lived. It is only in Matthew’s gospel that Jesus calls Simon Peter the “rock” on which He will build His Church; it is only in Matthew’s gospel that Peter asks, “LORD, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

In their culture, the number seven symbolized fullness and completion. If one were to forgive someone seven times, it would be seen as forgiving someone as much as possible. But Jesus says to Peter and to us, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. What Jesus is telling us is that there should be no limit to our willingness to forgive one another.

Jesus knows that is a part of human nature to put harsh limits on our willingness to forgive, but He wants us to use God’s infinite mercy as an example of how we are to forgive.

In today’s parable, Jesus stresses how forgiving God was. Setting a high standard, He calls on us to emulate the mercy of God in our readiness to forgive those who have wronged us: In other words, as we hear in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”+