Parable of the Unforgiving Servant,
Claude Vignon, 1629

Translation of the Gospel According to Matthew

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents: and as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment be made. But that servant falling down, besought him saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him a hundred pence: and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow-servant falling down besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not but went and cast him into prison till he paid the debt. Now his fellow servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved; and they came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him and saith to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besought me; should not thou have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers, until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.


A Message From St. Pope John Paul II’s Homily for Mass For The Faithful of San Antonio, TX, Sept. 13th, 1987.

[emphasis in original]

The Eucharist that we celebrate constantly confirms our living and dying “in the Lord”: Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. In fact, Saint Paul wrote: we are the Lord’s. That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living (Rom 14:8-9). Yes, Christ is the Lord!

The Paschal Mystery has transformed our human existence so that it is no longer under the dominion of death. In Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, “we live for the Lord” and “we die for the Lord”. Through him and with him and in him, we belong to God in life and in death. We exist not only “for death” but “for God”. For this reason, on this day made by the Lord (Psa 119:24), the Church all over the world speaks her blessing from the very depths of the Paschal Mystery of Christ: My soul, give thanks to the Lord; all my being, bless his holy name. Give thanks… and never forget all his blessings (Psa 103:1-2).

The Confession, Adolf Seel, 1867

Never forget! Today’s reading from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew gives us an example of a man who has forgotten (cfr. Matt 18:21-35). He has forgotten the favour given by his lord – and consequently, he has shown himself to be cruel and heartless in regard to his fellow human being. In this way, the liturgy introduces us to the experience of sin as it has developed from the beginnings of the history of man alongside the experience of death.

We die in the physical body when all the energies of life are extinguished. We die through sin when love dies in us. Outside of Love, there is no Life. If man opposes love and lives without love, death takes root in his soul and grows. For this reason, Christ cries out: I give you a new commandment: love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other (John 13:34). The cry for love is the cry for life, for the victory of the soul over sin and death. The source of this victory is the Cross of Jesus Christ: his Death and his Resurrection.

Again, in the Eucharist, our lives are touched by Christ’s own radical victory over sin – sin which is the death of the soul, and, ultimately, the reason for bodily death. That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of the dead (cfr. Rom 14:9) – that he might give life again to those who are dead in sin or because of sin.

    And so, the Eucharist begins with the penitential rite. We confess our sins in order to obtain forgiveness through the Cross of Christ, and so receive a part in his Resurrection from the dead. But if our conscience reproaches us with mortal sin, our taking part in the Mass can be fully fruitful only if beforehand we receive absolution in the Sacrament of Penance.

    The ministry of reconciliation is a fundamental part of the Church’s life and mission. Without overlooking any of the many ways in which Christ’s victory over sin becomes a reality in the life of the Church and of the world, it is important for me to emphasize that it is above all in the Sacrament of Forgiveness and Reconciliation that the power of the redeeming blood of Christ is made effective in our personal lives.

    In different parts of the world there is a great neglect of the Sacrament of Penance. This is sometimes linked to an obscuring of the religious and moral conscience, a loss of the sense of sin, or a lack of adequate instruction on the importance of this sacrament in the life of Christ’s Church. At times the neglect occurs because we fail to take seriously our lack of love and justice, and God’s corresponding offer of reconciling mercy. Sometimes there is a hesitation or an unwillingness to accept maturely and responsibly the consequences of the objective truths of faith. For these reasons it is necessary to emphasize once again that with regard to the substance of the sacrament there has always remained firm and unchanged in the consciousness of the Church the certainty that, by the will of Christ, forgiveness is offered to each individual by means of sacramental absolution given by the ministers of Penance (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 30).

      Again I ask all my brother bishops and priests to do everything possible to make the administration of this sacrament a primary aspect of their service to God’s people. There can be no substitute for the means of grace which Christ himself has placed in our hands. The Second Vatican Council never intended that this Sacrament of Penance be less practiced; what the Council expressly asked for was that the faithful might more easily understand the sacramental signs and more eagerly and frequently have recourse to the sacraments (cfr. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59). And just as sin deeply touches the individual conscience, so we understand why the absolution of sins must be individual and not collective, except in extraordinary circumstances as approved by the Church.

      Before Confession,
      Alexey Ivanovich Korzukhin, 1876

      I ask you, dear Catholic brothers and sisters, not to see Confession as a mere attempt at psychological liberation – however legitimate this too might be – but as a sacrament, a liturgical act. Confession is an act of honesty and courage; an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God. It is an act of the prodigal son who returns to his Father and is welcomed by him with the kiss of peace. It is easy, therefore, to understand why every confessional is a special and blessed place from which there is born new and uncontaminated a reconciled individual – a reconciled world! (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, V; cfr. III).

      The potential for an authentic and vibrant renewal of the whole Catholic Church through the more faithful use of the Sacrament of Penance is immeasurable. It flows directly from the loving heart of God himself! This is a certainty of faith which I offer to each one of you and to the entire Church.

      To those who have been far away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation and forgiving Love I make this appeal: come back to this source of grace; do not be afraid! Christ himself is waiting for you. He will heal you, and you will be at peace with God!