Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 17, 2023
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.
The gospel reading from today prompts some uncomfortable self-reflection. Am I, like the ungrateful servant, self-serving and demanding? Do I expect others to instantly do my will when I am the one in need of patience? Do I receive gifts with such ignorance of their cost? I imagine Christ’s apostolic audience may have experienced similar self-reflection.
I can easily believe the first servant did not see himself as he appears to the listener. He may have told himself that his harsh judgment toward another was necessary to save himself and his family. Perhaps he even considered himself righteous or “a good person” despite the regrettable consequences of his actions toward other people.
But Christ looked at his actions from a different perspective—that of God, the king of all. Did this man see himself as one servant among many? It seems not. Perhaps that difference in perspective influenced his self-serving action toward his fellow servant.
How do we see ourselves today? As one servant of God, the Lord of all, among many? Or as our own autonomous masters, giving orders and demanding expectations of others? When we receive God’s grace, do we turn in joy and gratitude to love those for whom we are responsible at home, at work, and among friends? Do we give as we have received—freely and with love?
Lord, help us to see ourselves as you see us: as a beloved child, sister, or brother to the person walking next to us, and help us to love them as we have been loved.
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

St. Clare of Montefalco led a convent in 13th century Italy, and did so with such holiness that she inspired many to seek perfection by imitating her example.
As a young woman, Clare gathered with a number of her own sisters and friends to live in Christian community together. They adopted a rule of life based on the Franciscan order, and one of Clare’s sisters was later chosen to lead a convent in Montefalco, Italy, under the Augustinian rule of religious life.
When her sister died, Clare, already known for her holiness, was asked to lead the community. Her devotion and personal prayer inspired the community to greater faithfulness.
Miracles were attributed to her as well as supernatural gifts and capacities, which she used to serve others. She had a great devotion to the suffering and death of Jesus and told a sister, “If you seek the cross of Christ, take my heart; there you will find the suffering Lord.” After her death, her community was in the process of removing her heart to place it in a reliquary (a practice not uncommon at the time), when they discovered that the muscle fibers of her heart held a perfect image of Jesus on the cross.
She died in 1308, and her body remained incorruptible—in 1881, a visiting reporter beheld her face and hands and noted that she appeared to be simply asleep. Her relics rest in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and her image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Clare of Montefalco, your physical heart was found to bear the image of the crucifixion—pray for us!