"Makapila bala ako magapatawad sa iya?"

Ebanghelyo subong nga Adlaw (Mateo 18:21-35)

Nagpalapit si Pedro kay Jesus kag nagpamangkot, "Ginoo, makapila bala makasala ang akon utod sa akon kag ako magapatawad sa iya? Tubtob bala sa makapito?" 

Si Jesus nagsabat, "Wala ako magsiling sa imo nga tubtob sa makapito, kundi 70 ka pito." 

Kay ang Ginharian sang langit kaangay sang isa ka hari nga luyag maghusay sang mga utang sang iya mga suloguon sa iya. 

Sang nagahusay sia sang ila mga utang, may gindala sa iya nga nakautang sing minilyon ka pisos. 

Tungod nga indi makabayad ang suloguon sang iya utang, nagsugo ang iya agalon nga ibaligya sia, ang iya asawa, ang iya mga kabataan kag ang tanan niya nga pagkabutang agod mabayaran niya ang iya mga utang. 

Nagluhod ang suloguon sa atubangan sang iya agalon kag nagpakiluoy, 'Amoy, hulatholata lang ako anay, kay bayaran ko ikaw sang tanan!' 

Ang agalon naluoy sa iya, gani ginpalakat niya sia kag wala na pagpabayara sang iya utang. 

"Karon naggwa sia kag nasugata niya ang isa man ka suloguon nga nakautang sa iya sing pila lamang ka pisos. Ginliab niya sia kag ginkuga nga nagasiling, 'Bayari ang utang mo sa akon!' 

Ang iya pareho nga suloguon nagluhod nga nagapakiluoy sa iya, 'Hulatholata lang ako anay, kay bayaran ko ikaw!' 

Pero indi gid sia makahulat. Sa baylo ginpabilanggo niya sia tubtob mabayaran niya ang iya utang. 

Sang pagkakita sini sang iban nga mga suloguon, naglain gid ang buot nila kag ginkadtuan nila ang ila agalon kag ginsugiran sang nahanabo. 

Gani ginpatawag sang agalon yadtong suloguon kag ginhambalan, 'Walay pulos ka nga suloguon! Ginpatawad ko ang imo mga utang kay nagpakiluoy ka sa akon. 

Kuntani magkaluoy ka man sa pareho mo nga suloguon subong sang pagkaluoy ko sa imo.' 

Naakig gid ang iya agalon kag ginpabilanggo sia agod masilutan tubtob nga bayaran niya ang tanan niya nga utang." 

Sa katapusan si Jesus nagsiling, "Amo man ini ang himuon sa inyo sang akon Amay sa langit kon ang tagsa sa inyo indi magpatawad sang inyo utod sa inyo tagipusoon."

Prayers:

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury let me sow pardon. Where there is doubt let me sow faith. Where there is despair let me give hope. Where there is darkness let me give light. Where there is sadness let me give joy." (Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi)

***

Reflection of the Daily Gospel:

Who doesn't have debts they need to pay off! And who wouldn't be grateful to have someone release them from their debts? But can we really expect mercy and pardon when we owe someone a great deal? When the people of Israel sinned and rebelled against God, God left them to their own devices until they repented and cried out to him for mercy. The Book of Daniel in the Old Testament recounts the story of Daniel and his three young friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. When the King of Babylon threw Daniel's three friends into the fiery furnace, they cried out to God to have mercy not only on themselves, but to have mercy upon all his people. "Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in your forbearance and in your abundant mercy" (Daniel 3:19-43). The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God's "mercies never come to an end - they are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). God gives grace to the humble and he shows mercy to those who turn to him for healing and pardon. 

God's mercy towards each one of us shows us the way that God wants each one of us to be merciful towards one another. When Peter posed the question of forgiveness and showing mercy to one's neighbor, he characteristically offered an answer he thought Jesus would be pleased with. Why not forgive your neighbor seven times! How unthinkable for Jesus to counter with the proposition that one must forgive seventy times that. Jesus made it clear that there is no reckonable limit to mercy and pardon. And he drove the lesson home with a parable about two very different kinds of debts. The first man owed an enormous sum of money – millions in our currency. In Jesus' time this amount was greater than the total revenue of a province – more than it would cost to ransom a king! The man who was forgiven such an incredible debt could not, however bring himself to forgive his neighbor a very small debt which was about one- hundred-thousandth of his own debt. The contrast could not have been greater! 

Paul the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). There is no way we could repay God the debt we owed him because of our sins and offenses. Only his mercy and pardon could free us from such a debt. There is no offense our neighbor can do to us that can compare with our debt to God! If God has forgiven each of us our debt, which was very great, we, too must forgive others the debt they owe us. Through Jesus' atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross, we have been forgiven a debt beyond all reckoning. It cost God his very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to ransom us with the price of his blood. Jesus paid the price for us and won for us pardon for our sins and freedom from slavery to our unruly desires and sinful habits. God in his mercy offers us the grace and help of his Holy Spirit so we can love as he loves, pardon as he pardons, and treat others with the same mercy and kindness which he has shown to us. God has made his peace with us. Have you made your peace with God? If you believe and accept God's love and and pardon for you, than you likewise must choose to be merciful towards those who are in debt to you. Are you ready to forgive and to make peace with your neighbor as God has made peace with you?