Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
- Forgive: Enter God’s World
- A New Lease on Life
Greeting
The God of forgiveness, mercy and life
be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
- Forgive: Enter God’s World
We are all familiar with the saying: “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Perhaps we forget the second part too easily: by forgiving one another, we do what God does all the time for us. If we cannot forgive we have not learned to love deeply and we are still far from the Gospel. We begin this Eucharist by asking pardon from the Lord and from one another.
- A New Lease on Life
Most of us have experienced how difficult it is to forgive. It is almost impossible. In Old English it means “give to the uttermost,” “extremely,” “as far as you can go.” Isn’t that what it really is, going all the way? Who can forget the hurt? Yet we should. Who doesn’t see and feel the scars and keep the memories? And yet we shouldn’t. Think of God: when he forgives, the evil belongs to the past. It is gone. God keeps no accounts. He wants us to think only of the future. Jesus did not condemn but gave new chances. Let us ask for the Lord’s attitude now in this Eucharist.
Penitential Act
Let us look at the Lord Jesus
how he forgave people.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you forgave Peter
after he had denied you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you did not condemn
the woman caught in adultery;
you simply told her to sin no more:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you prayed your Father
to forgive even those who had crucified you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us too, Lord, and keep doing so
every time we sin against you.
Dispose us to forgive others always.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that we may learn to forgive
the way the Lord forgives
(pause)
All-loving Father,
you are good and patient,
compassionate, loving, and merciful with sinners like us.
You forgive us all our debt of sin.
Let your pardon brings us much joy and hope
and induce us to forget and forgive readily
the debts, often so small, that others owe us
because of the wrongs they have done to us.
You have restored us to life:
help us to make others live by our pardon,
that they may feel a bit of your goodness in us.
We ask this through Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading (Sir 27:30, 28:7): Forgive and God Will Forgive You
Even by the end of the Old Testament, the believer knew that God does not forgive those who cannot forgive others. Forgiveness is a demand of the covenant.
Reading 1: Sir 27:30—28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R. (8) The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Second Reading (Rom 14:7-9): Like Christ, No One Should Live for Himself
By baptism, we belong to Christ. Like him, we should live and die not for ourselves but for others.
Reading 2: Rom 14:7-9
Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Alleluia:Jn 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord;
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel (Mt 18:21-35): Forgive from the Heart
If we do not know how to forgive, God will not forgive us, says Jesus. The kingdom of God will not come among us if we cannot forgive.
Gospel: Mt 18:21-35
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
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 the fellow servant 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.”
Intercessions
Let us pray to our merciful God that we his people who have experienced his forgiveness may bring the joy of reconciliation to the world. Let us say: R/ Lord, help us forgive from the heart.
– For the Church, the people set free by the blood of Christ, that we may not be divided in factions but live together in tolerance and peace, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, help us forgive from the heart.
– For all Christian Churches, long divided by grudges and pride, that we may be brought together in the unity of one Gospel and one love of Christ, let us pray: R/ Lord, help us forgive from the heart.
– For those who are committed to causes of justice and human liberation, that they may not only accuse and protest but also and uproot sin in their own hearts, let us pray: R/ Lord, help us forgive from the heart.
– For married couples who live side by side without much love and without communicating, that they may come to forgive, to understand and to appreciate one another again, let us pray: R/ Lord help us forgive from the heart.
– And for us gathered here, people with our failures and foibles, that we may learn from the Lord to be merciful as he has been to us, that we may forgive one another from the heart, let us pray: R/ Lord, help us forgive from the heart.
Lord, you are so good that all our evil becomes like nothing. Let us, little and frail people, speak to one another your words and deeds of forgiving love, on account of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
in these signs of bread and wine
we celebrate the death of your Son
that brought us forgiveness and life.
Let the table of the Eucharist be to all of us
an occasion and place where we learn
to accept one another, even with our frailties,
and to share the same bread and the same Lord
in friendship and peace.
We ask you this through him
who reconciled in himself all factions,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
At the very heart of the Eucharistic celebration, we say: “This blood will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.” The Lord Jesus brought us forgiveness by his death. Let us thank God for his forgiveness and forgive one another in the Lord.
(The Eucharistic Prayer of Reconciliation I [ICEL] is recommended.)
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
In Our Lord’s words we pray:
forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
May we not pray those words
only with our lips, but also with our hearts. R/ Our Father…
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
Look not on our sins, and help us
not to look on the sins of others,
for we all need the peace
of your forgiving love
and of each other’s pardon.
Grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
The forgiving peace of the Lord
be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God
who was slain for our sins.
On the cross he prayed for those
who sought his death.
Happy are we to receive him
and to learn from him
to bring reconciliation and peace. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
you have created us anew
through the Bread of Life of your Son
and through the forgiveness he keeps bringing us.
Help us also to restore to life
our brothers and sisters who wait for our pardon
and open our hearts
to receive their forgiveness with gratitude.
Let us be a community
where we raise up one another
to the joy of your life and your healing love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Today God has spoken clearly to us,
people for whom it is difficult
to overlook failures,
to give new chances,
to forgive from the heart.
“Become like me,
forget and forgive,
heal and care,
and you will be healed yourselves.”
May God be with you and bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us walk with one another
in the forgiving peace of the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection:
17 September 2023
Matthew 18: 21-35
“You will pay for it!”
We are given a catechesis by Jesus about the unity of brothers and sisters and he ends it with a promise: “I assure you that if two of you agree and ask for a grace, it will be granted to you.” Peace, friendship, and unity among brothers and sisters attract God’s kindness and providence. But it is not always easy to be in union with the people around us.
Disagreements and quarrels are common. Peter asked Jesus, “What should we do with those who offend us? If my brother offends me, how many times must I forgive him? Seven times?” Jesus answered with an idiom, “Seventy times seven.” You should always forgive.
Our selfish hearts are always attached to hatred, revenge, and resentment. It is no secret that hate has destroyed many families. Hatred is passed down from generation to generation. We have witnessed siblings who refuse to greet each other in front of the coffins of their deceased parents due to old grudges.
The devil succeeds in convincing us that nurturing hatred is a sign of strength, and to love and forgive is a sign of weakness. The devil always takes advantage of our grudges in order to destroy everything. Our sin keeps us from becoming close to the Lord, who celebrates our repentance and forgets all of our sins.
When God forgives us, all our past sins are forgotten. God loses the memory of the awful stories of so many of our sins. There is only one thing he asks of us: “Learn to forgive as the Lord forgives you.”
Have you ever said to anyone: “You will pay for it”. This word is neither Christian nor human. Jesus’ generosity teaches us that we must forgive in order to be admitted to heaven. Remember the Lord asking this question: “When you go to Mass and remember your brother has something against you, reconcile first; don’t come to me with love for me in one hand and hatred for your brother in the other.”
The Lord may teach us the wisdom of forgiveness, which is not an easy task. Let us do one thing: in confession, when we receive the sacrament of reconciliation, let us first ask ourselves, “Do I forgive?” If I do not forgive, I should not pretend to ask for forgiveness because I will not be forgiven. Asking for forgiveness is forgiving. They both go together. They can’t be separated.