By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Sirach 27:30 – 28:7; Responsorial: Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12; Second Reading: Romans 14:7-9; Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
This Sirach reading warns against holding on to “wrath” and “anger.” We should forgive, as the Lord forgives. Sirach says: “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” If we are vengeful instead, then we “will suffer the Lord’s vengeance.”
This passage warns those who “nourish anger” or anyone who “cherishes wrath.” Someone who holds so tightly to their anger has deeply ingrained, habitual anger. Forgiving others becomes almost impossible when a person holds anger so tightly.
Next Sirach gives commands which form near-synonymous parallelism. “Remember your last days” and “Remember death and decay” are very similar. Likewise, “set enmity aside” is similar to “cease from sin.” Holding on to anger/enmity is a kind of sin. The Rule of Saint Benedict commands monks to “keep death daily before your eyes.” Sirach shows one benefit of living this way: it makes us keenly aware that we will someday face God’s judgment. Since we hope to receive God’s mercy, we should forgive others and let go of anger and sin. The Scriptures tell us that God is merciful to those who are merciful.
Sirach gives more commands: “Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor.”
This likely refers to Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is also cited by Jesus as the second greatest commandment in Mark 12:31. This follows Jesus’ teaching that the greatest commandment is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Sirach was composed about two centuries before Jesus’ birth. This shows that Leviticus 19 was being cited as an essential commandment over several generations of later “Second Temple Judaism.”
The Responsorial — Psalm 103 — is a “praise psalm” which gives testimony to the good works of the Lord God. The first two verses repeat “Bless the LORD, O my soul.” The psalmist is exhorting himself to bless the Lord. The psalmist recalls all the times that he has experienced the Lord’s goodness, which moves him to praise the Lord. The psalmist recalls the Lord’s forgiveness, his healing power, and how the Lord “redeems your life from destruction.” This psalm especially speaks to anyone who has experienced suffering and difficulties in life.
God’s merciful forgiveness is repeatedly emphasized in this Psalm. God “pardons all your iniquities.” God will “not always chide” (for our sins). Given this emphasis on God’s forgiveness, it is quite appropriate that today’s response is: “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.”
Finally, the psalmist uses a poetically creative comparison: God distances us from our sins “as far as the east is from the west.” Since these are two opposite directions, this is a poetic way of saying that God distances us from our sins far more than we can understand or grasp.
Next, Paul writes to the Church in Rome: “Brothers and sisters … if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord.” The verses which precede and follow today’s reading make it clear that Paul is criticizing Christians who judge their brother or sister in faith for their dietary practices or for their particular observance of certain days as religiously importance.
Paul recognizes that judging a brother quickly leads to despising the brother, which causes division within the community of faith. Instead, Paul observes: “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” Thus, we seek to please God alone in whatever we do. Whether God wills that we live or die, we do it all for the Lord, to whom we belong.
In today’s Gospel, Peter asks Jesus: “how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answers Peter: “not seven times but seventy-seven times.” This is the “New American Bible” — the Catholic translation used during Mass. Conversely, in the Revised Standard Version, Jesus says to forgive “seventy times seven” times. This is more familiar phrasing to most English speakers because “seventy times seven” is the reading of the King James Version and most of the translations descended from it.
But “seventy-seven times” might be a better translation. Jesus is citing Genesis 4, where Cain kills his brother Abel. God punishes Cain by making him a constant wanderer on the earth. This prevents Cain from supporting himself through “tilling the earth” (farming). But Cain objects that anyone might kill him as he constantly wanders upon the earth. So, God puts a protective mark on Cain, and promises that if anyone should kill Cain, then “Cain shall be avenged seven times” (4:15). Cain has children, grandchildren, and so on.
Several generations later, Lamech is a descendant of Cain. Lamech tells his wives: “I have killed a man for wounding me … If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (Genesis 4:23-24). This “seventy-seven” accurately translates the Hebrew original text. This Hebrew phrase was later translated by the Greek Septuagint in a way that could be understood as either “seventy-seven times” or “seventy times seven times.” The Greek phrase is ambiguous in meaning. Matthew’s Gospel borrows this Greek phrasing from the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation (of the Hebrew Scriptures) most widely used by the early Church.
In any case, Jesus is indicating that his disciples must not place any limits on their forgiveness. Peter considered it quite generous that he might forgive his brother seven times. The meaning of Jesus’ response does not depend on the exact number — “seventy-seven” or “seventy times seven.” We should recognize that Jesus is inaugurating God’s kingdom in which there is no limit to God’s forgiveness of sins.
As Jesus’ disciples, we are God’s co-workers in offering unlimited forgiveness to anyone who wrongs us. This contrasts sharply with the vengeance demanded by Cain and by Lamech. They sought to protect themselves through a rapid escalation of vengeance. Christ commands us instead to bring God’s peace by abundantly forgiving without limit.