Dear Super
Rich: you are the "Ruthless Servant" who Jesus is talking of.
We are all
sinners and in debt to God, even you…please use your wealth to forgive debts
and feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty…Please Super Rich end the wars
and nuclear weapons…
our poor
lives are short…
Pope Francis write:
{Jesus then
goes on to tell the parable of the "ruthless servant, " who, called
by his master to return a huge amount, begs him on his knees for mercy. His master cancels his debt.
But he then
meets a fellow servant who owes him a few cents and who in turn begs on his
knees for mercy, but the first servant refuses his request and throws him into
jail.
When the
master hears of the matter, he becomes infuriated and summoning the first
servant back to him, says, "Should not you have had mercy on your fellow
servant, as I had mercy on you?"
(Gospel of
Matthew 18)
Jesus
concludes, "So also my Heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you
do not forgive your brother from your heart.
(Gospel of
Matthew 18)
This parable
contains a profound teaching for all of us.
Jesus affirms that mercy is not only an action of the Father, it becomes
a criterion for ascertaining who his true children are. In short, we are called to show mercy because
mercy has first been shown to us.
Pardoning offenses becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and
for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse
ourselves. At time how hard it seems to
forgive! And yet pardon is the
instrument placed into our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart.
To let go of
anger, wrath, violence and revenge are necessary conditions of living
joyfully. Let us therefore heed the
Apostle's exhortation: "Do not let the sun go down on your anger."
(Saint Paul
Letter to the Ephesians 4)
Above all,
let us listen to the words of Jesus who made mercy as an ideal of life and a
criterion for the credibility of our faith: "Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy."
(Gospel of
Matthew 5)
the
beatitude to which we should particularly aspire in this Holy Year of Mercy…}
(above quote
from Pope Francis The Face of Mercy…4/11/15)
from the Gospel:
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.[r]
21 Then Peter approaching asked
him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As
many as seven times?” 22 [s]Jesus
answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 That is why the kingdom of heaven
may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 [t]When
he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge
amount. 25 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. 26 [u]At
that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and
I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved
with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
28 When that servant had left,
he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.[v]
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow
servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him
put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now
when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and
went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked
servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on
your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then
in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back
the whole debt.[w]
35 [x]So
will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from
his heart.”
Pope Francis write:
