Hello,
I went to the girls’ soccer game. It was great being the crowd. However, it was a tough loss to St. Charles. Sports can be a great outlet. Sports can teach great life lessons. Studies show that on average, those who participate in sports tend to be more successful in life. However, we have to remember that sports is temporary. Our relationship with Christ, or lack there of, is eternal.
In the Gospel today, Jesus tells Peter he needs to forgive over and over again. Peter thought he was being generous when he suggested 7 times. In the Bible, 7 is the number of perfection. So Jesus says 77 times, double perfection. So Jesus does not mean exactly 77, but rather as many times as a person offends you. And then Jesus tells a parable about a servant who is forgiven a huge debt is unable to forgive someone else who owes him a small debt. Sometimes I’ve used analogy of a skyscraper. Sometimes someone can hurt us greatly. And it can seem impossible to forgive them. However, we need to remember that Jesus Christ died on the Cross and forgave our sins. And compared to the perfection of God, our sins are like the distance between earth and sun. This distance is so much greater than the distance from the ground to the top of the skyscraper. So it is with our sins to each other compared to our sins against God. So if God is able to forgive us, we should be able to forgive others. And this is what we pray for every time we say the Our Father. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It is not easy. We really do some horrible things to each other. But we need to ask for the grace to forgive each other with the supernatural grace and love of God.
Have a blessed week,
Father Vogel
Father Andrew Vogel's Blog 