Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A – Sunday, September 13, 2020. (EPISODE: 251)

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A –
Sunday, September 13, 2020
(EPISODE: 251)

Readings for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
FIRST READING: Sirach 27:30 28:7
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12. "The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion."
SECOND READING: Romans 14:7-9
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (John 13:34). Alleluia, alleluia! I give you a new commandment. Love one another as I have loved you.
GOSPEL: Matthew 18:21-35
 
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed stock photo ID: 1443376325. ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - JUNE 23, 2018: Forgive us our debts - the parable of the unforgiving servant, relief on the door of the Grossmunster ("great minster") church in Zurich, Switzerland. By Zvonimir Atletic
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Please listen to the audio-recordings of the Mass – including readings, prayers and reflections for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, September 13, 2020 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ordinary-24a-episode-251  (EPISODE: 251)
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Prologue:  The gospel value;  "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you!" "The Golden rule," and the principle on which Our Lord's parable is based has had such a profound effect on not only Christianity, but also legal and ethical systems throughout the world.
 
In some ways the Golden rule is common sense and simply about consistency, justice and fairness, and yet, even now the world cries out for this principle to be applied evenly.    

This gospel is given by Our Lord as a warning that we must be constantly on our guard. God has forgiven us completely for things we could not possibly hope to repay; and we are duty-bound in gratitude and compassion, to share that graciousness, forgiveness and charity that God gives to us, to others around us.
 
The other major problem is that some people just don't seem to see those around them as their brothers and sisters in Christ, or (at the very least), fellow citizens in the same commonwealth for common good… so they act with disregard for anyone but themselves and their nearest-and-dearest.
 
Jesus rejects this approach. He reminds us, if we do good to those who love us, what difference does that make, even the pagans and the sinners do that… Our Lord is preaching universal fraternity and goodwill to all…. Because we are truly ALL God's children…
 
In an act of astounding generosity….. the master, in this parable, not only gives the wicked servant time to start to repay the impossible debt, but he forgives the debt entirely, out of compassion and mercy. Based on the value of the debt mentioned in this parable, He wipes 16,000 years or so of debt from the face of the earth. The master is hoping that this act of kindness will sink deep into the heart of the debtor and be passed on in a new way of acting and living. But then this sad and miserable servant, with an astoundingly hard heart, goes out and does not do the same to a fellow servant who has a debt to him that was actually possible to repay. It might take 100 days of pay, but it is manageable given an extended amount of time…. It is pathetic. This servant shows no empathy, no connection to others. He does not identify himself with the feelings and plight of others. He does not see this poor fellow servant as brothers in similar need. He cannot see that he himself was just like the person (actually so much worse), bowing before him, begging for time to repay a debt.
 
It is sad and quite frankly bewildering.  This kind of attitude makes the world a meaner and nastier place, and is the cause of so much suffering. It is so unnecessary and opposite to the essence of the gospel.
 
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, is such a central quality in the Kingdom of God, that Our Lord even incorporates it into the Great Prayer he taught his disciples to recite: "Forgive us our sins, according to how we forgive others." (or to put it another way, "Lord, don't forgive us our sins unless we forgive others who hurt us." It is sobering stuff that we pray every day.
 
Saint Paul confirms this in the second reading. We live now for God and not for ourselves. Ego, hurt pride and moral outrage are barriers to reconciliation, understanding, and healing. We must let go of pride and entitlement, and a sense of moral outrage, and open our hearts generously and "self-forgettingly." Then we are beginning to think and feel the love that is God's very nature.
 
Let us continue to foster that awareness that we are all in communion with one another with the One God… and what we do to others, we are taken as doing to God….
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It has been said that a truly rare thing is a voice of common sense in the Church.  We have plenty of scholars who will tell us of rules and rituals, of interpretations and prophecies. But common sense is not so plentiful.  We find it today in our first reading in Jesus Ben Sirach.  A little research tells us he was a married man with a family, well-travelled, familiar with business affairs and administration. A foreign diplomat for Israel. Above all, a person who from childhood had been devoted to the pursuit of wisdom and holiness. A person with no axe to grind, no pet theories to develop, happy to harmonize the best of the old with the best of the new. A person who believed in forgiving enemies and was especially sensitive to the needs of the poor and helpless.

Later on in his life dedicated himself to passing on his acquired wisdom to the young: he said, 'showing no pity for a man like himself, how can he then plead for his own sins '.  

Two centuries earlier than Christ he anticipates the thinking of Christ. His common sense led him to know a loving and merciful God: again he says : God of all things, the doer of great deeds everywhere, the God who has exalted us since our conception and has always shown us love and mercy.

He believed forgiveness of others as a condition of disposing us to divine forgiveness. He leaps beyond the traditional Jewish law of retaliation (eye for an eye, tooth for tooth) which really meant that you may take no more than an eye for an eye... But they excluded Ben Sirach from their Scriptures because they were not ready to hear this teaching.

His book translated into Greek by his grandson was known as Ecclesiasticus, or the Church's book, because the Christian church accepted it as part of the Scripture but the Jews did not.   Which is a great entrée into Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant.

But let's clarify something before we proceed.

10,000 talents was equivalent to about $10 million in today's money. No small pickings. Yearly tribute to Caesar for the region of Galilee in 4BC was 200 talents = only 2% of the sum owed in the parable.

In the Ancient Near East 10,000 was the highest number used in counting and the talent the largest denomination of currency.

Therefore, the sum owed was like the national debt.

   The second servant, however, owed about $20. Sin is a 'debt' beyond our human capacity to repay. Nothing we can do can ever repay for the transgression of Adam, yet through the sacrifice of Christ. S even though Christ died for us while we were still sinners. So our only response is that our behaviour towards others must be marked by that same generous mercy and forgiveness.   From the heart: the one who forgives has learned the lesson of grace that comes with the forgiveness God bestows. Only real love can forgive. Those in need of forgiveness should not have to come to us. Like Jesus, we are to seek them out. He came to us in our sin.

   Forgiveness is a distinguishing mark of the Christian community. There is no limit to the forgiveness that we can and must show. In this part of the Gospel, Matthew presents Jesus instructing his disciples about the relationships that should exist within the Church. The parable reminds us that we have all been forgiven so often by our loving God. We have no right to withhold forgiveness from our sisters and brothers. In fact the point is clearly made; we can lose God's forgiveness if we withhold it from others. God gives it freely, he expects us to share it freely from the heart. FORGIVE is Jesus' great message to his Church.
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References:
Homily:  Fr Peter Dillon

Prologue: Fr Paul W. Kelly
 
Bergant, D. and Fragomeni, R. (2001). Preaching the new lectionary. Year A. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press.
 
DeBona, G. (2013). Between the Ambo and the altar. Year A. 1st ed. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, pp.246-249

Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed stock photo ID: 1443376325. ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - JUNE 23, 2018: Forgive us our debts - the parable of the unforgiving servant, relief on the door of the Grossmunster ("great minster") church in Zurich, Switzerland. By Zvonimir Atletic

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A  (Sunday, September 13, 2020)  (EPISODE: 251 )
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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{{Kindness and grace to you all}}

As we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery, let us admit our failings and ask the Lord for pardon and strength.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,* through my most grievous fault; therefore
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary VI
Euch prayer III
Communion side.  pwk:  LH
(Theme variation: 1)
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{Thanks for joining us for this time of prayer and reflection}

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

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Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009,  The Grail - Collins publishers. 

Prayers of the Faithful -   " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'.   E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).

Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -  By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria,  Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.  

- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of  William John Kelly -     Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly.  Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer.  Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019. 

May God bless and keep you. 
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