As the man could not repay the debt, the king commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, his children and all his goods, as repayment.
The servant threw himself at the feet of the king and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.’
The king took pity on him, and not only set him free, but even canceled his debt.
When this servant left the king’s presence, he met one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred pieces of silver.
He grabbed him by the throat and almost choked him, shouting, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ His fellow servant threw himself at his feet and begged him,
‘Give me time, and I will pay everything.’ But the other did not agree, and sent him to prison until he had paid all his debt.
Now the servants of the king saw what had happened. They were extremely upset, and so they went and reported everything to their lord.
Then the lord summoned his servant and said, ‘Wicked servant, I forgave you all that you owed me when you begged me to do so.
Weren’t you bound to have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ The lord was now angry.
He handed the wicked servant over to be pu­nished, until he had paid the whole debt.” Jesus added,
“So will my heavenly Father do with you, unless you sincerely forgive your brothers and sisters.”

REFLECTION:
St. Mary Euphrasia said that gratitude is the memory of the heart. In this Lenten Season, we must keep in our hearts the image of a loving and forgiving God.
It is a memory of a God who embraces suffering so that we may gain salvation.
In Jesus’ sacrifice, the heaven breaks open so that our relationship with God can be restored.
Such gratuitous love deserves nothing but gratefulness. A heart that is grateful will always live in a lo­ving ­attitude towards God and other people.
This is the invitation that ­Jesus opens for all his disciples in our Gospel today. He challenges us to keep that forgiving attitude towards our brothers and sisters.
We forgive not because certain conditions are met. Rather, we forgive because we are grateful of the forgiveness that we had received from Jesus.
We are just paying forward the goodness and graces that God has bestowed on us.
Therefore, let us not get tired of forgiving one another as God continually gives us His forgiveness.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2020