The first reading for Mass today from the book of the prophet Ezekiel describes God’s command for Ezekiel to pack his things in full daylight and depart in the evening, while everyone looked on. He was to be a living sign, a visual representation to the house of Israel of what was going to happen to them. This is similar to how Christ used parables to teach people. He formed a picture in the mind of the people listening, of a moral lesson he was trying to teach. A picture is a visual portrait in the mind, that is universally understood by all people. It is such an awesome teaching technique because of it’s simplicity, and because a picture will stay in the mind of a person a lot longer than mere words. If you ever have trouble remembering someone’s name, try associating their name to an image that their name reminds you of, and later, you will remember the image in connection with that person and their name will come back to you. It’s the same kind of concept.
Jesus used a lengthy parable in today’s gospel. You would think this would be more difficult to remember, but actually, it is a good story that sticks in your mind, in spite of it’s length. It’s about forgiveness. How people have the tendency to beg for forgiveness for a big sin or debt they owe, and yet are harsh and unforgiving to others who sin against them. Jesus is basically saying that if we treat others this way, we will not get away with it. We will have to answer to our Father in heaven, for our actions, and He will punish us then. Justice will be served.
We clearly understood the meaning of the parable at once. However, there is much more to be gleaned from the parable than what we first notice. It says in the gospel that, “when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.” These servants had a conscience and knew that justice had been violated. They did not stand by and do nothing about it. This would be a sin.
Situations exist in modern times when people have stood by and done nothing, allowing an evil to flourish. This happens on a grand scale with a large group of people, like those involved in the Nazi regime of World War II, or on a very small scale, even within our own families. To tolerate an evil and not take action against it, or at least resist it, is to participate in the evil itself. The unnoticed servants in today’s gospel are actually the heroes in this parable because they obeyed their conscience and did something about the evil they witnessed.
The last thing that might be worth paying attention to in the gospel, are the verses recorded after the master chewed out the wicked servant for not forgiving his fellow servant:
“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 his brother from his heart.”
These two verses are where the Catholic belief in purgatory comes from. Jesus illustrates that the wicked servant didn’t go to hell permanently, but was tortured until he was cleansed from the sin of unforgiveness. This is a really good point to think about. The fires of purgatory are not physical fires, but emotional, or spiritual fires. Our venial sins must still be accounted for when we die. The worse the venial sin, the worse we will suffer for it in purgatory after our death, if we do not work through the sin during our lives. It would be so much easier for us to repent of our sins while we are alive here on earth, because purgatory will most certainly be a much more painful experience if we don’t.
Today, it might be good to think about, and pray about, anyone who you still have trouble forgiving, or perhaps you still have lingering remnants of a grudge or unforgiveness. It would be good to address this. If there is a family member or friend who has not forgiven you for something you did to hurt them, this would also be a good time to address this as well. Perhaps see if something can be done to bring about forgiveness and healing for both of you.
Daily Mass Readings:
Ezekiel 12: 1-12 / Psalm 78 / Matthew 18: 21-19:1
