Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 13, 2026
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 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 his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
When I began my master’s in theological studies, my mentor informed me that our goal in studying theology was to become saints. He followed this with the disclaimer that being a saint was not a guarantee for good grades. Today’s gospel passage reminds me a lot of my work as an ethicist. On one hand, I should model the sort of grace and compassion I want my students to learn, but on the other, I have to uphold academic standards. Unfortunately, as is true for much of our lives, justice and mercy often conflict. What do we do with this?
My grandfather was an active part of Northern Utah’s Alcoholics Anonymous programs the last thirty years of his life. He often brought my siblings and me to AA meetings when we visited. I would listen to the stories of men and women whose lives would be very easy to condemn. People whose lives could be described as “failures” in a very literal sense—whose addiction had cost them jobs, relationships, homes, health, and ultimately their social standing. And yet, these broken addicts would greet me with a smile and tell me how much of an inspiration my grandfather, Gary, had been in their recovery journey.
When our lives are in relatively good order, we may think we are better than those whose lives are in disarray. But we do well to remember that if our lives are in order, it is through God’s grace. More importantly, we ought to be grateful for such blessings and extend God’s grace to those who lack the same peace. Our task in this life, if we really are pursuing sainthood, is to be agents of God’s grace, and not God’s wrath. Or, as a favorite dorm mass hymn reminds us, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Prayer
Lord, please grant us the desire to want to learn how to forgive as you do. When we beg for forgiveness, you readily grant it. All is wiped clean, all is forgotten. We put our trust in your generosity. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Hippolytus was one of the most important writers and thinkers in the Church before the fourth century. He was a learned priest in Rome and renowned for his eloquence. He became overzealous, however, and spoke out against several popes for being too lax with people who strayed from the faith, or for not denouncing a certain heresy forcefully enough. He thought the faithful should be an undefiled body of people and was elected as a rival pope.
Pope Pontian (pictured here) was elected in 230 and was able to reconcile with Hippolytus and restore union to the Church. Shortly afterwards, the Roman emperor began persecuting Christians, and both Pontian and Hippolytus were exiled to Sardinia, which was known for its harsh conditions. Before his arrest, Pontian stepped down from his role as pope so that the Christian community could select another leader in his absence.
Both men labored in mines and died there due to exhaustion. The bodies of both men were retrieved and returned to Rome for burial and veneration as martyrs for the faith. Relics of both saints rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
Saints Pontian and Hippolytus, you were bitter rivals who reconciled before your exile and death—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Pope St. Pontian is in the public domain. Last accessed March 27, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
