Laity Reflections for 24th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A
1st Reading: Sirach 27:30;28:7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2;3-4;9-10;11-12 (R. 8)
2nd Reading: Romans 14:7-9
Gospel Acclamation: John 13:34
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
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| Oparaji Christiana Ozioma |
MY REFLECTION
Today’s readings remind us of one of the most important teachings of our Christian faith: forgiveness.
As human beings, we sometimes find it difficult to forgive those who have hurt or offended us. Yet, from the First Reading to the Gospel, we are reminded that God is merciful and compassionate, and as His followers, we are called to follow his example.
Jesus tells us not to forgive only seven times, but seventy-seven times, reminding us that forgiveness should not have a limit. If God continually shows us mercy despite our shortcomings, we too must learn to extend that mercy to others.
Is there someone in your family, workplace, or community whom you find difficult to forgive? Holding on to anger and resentment often takes away our peace and leaves us restless.
Forgive, let go of the bitterness, and live in peace. However, forgiveness does not mean allowing yourself to be hurt repeatedly. We can forgive while still setting healthy boundaries to prevent the same misunderstanding or hurt from happening again.
May God give us the grace to forgive others, seek forgiveness when we are wrong, and remain merciful as he is merciful. Amen!
Thank you.
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| Eze Ekenemaria |
MY REFLECTION
Today's Gospel follows last week's teaching on resolving disputes within the Christian community. Peter asks Jesus how many times one should forgive, suggesting seven times. Jesus responds, _“77 times,”_ showing that forgiveness is not about quantity but a continual disposition of the heart.
Through the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus reveals the depth of God's mercy toward us. The king forgives the servant an enormous debt, yet the servant refuses to forgive a fellow servant a much smaller debt. Because he failed to show the mercy he had received, the king punishes him.
The lesson is clear: having received God's abundant mercy, we are called to extend that same mercy to others. If we hoard God's forgiveness while refusing to forgive, we risk forfeiting the transforming effects of His mercy in our lives.
May God teach us to count our blessings and not the wrongs done to us.
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| Egujie Anone Cynthia |
First Reading:
It warns us against anger, hatred, and revenge. Sirach teaches that if we want God to forgive us, we must also be willing to forgive those who have offended us.
The reading asks us an important question: How can we hold anger against another person and still expect mercy from God?
We are reminded to let go of bitterness, remember that life is short, and live according to God's commandments. The central message is clear: Forgive others so that you too may experience God's forgiveness
The Psalm beautifully reminds us that God is kind, merciful, compassionate, and slow to anger. He does not treat us according to the seriousness of our sins but lovingly offers us forgiveness.
Second Reading:
St. Paul teaches us that we belong to the Lord. Whether we live or die, our lives are not entirely our own because we belong to Christ.
Jesus died and rose again so that He might be Lord of both the living and the dead. Therefore, we are called to live our lives in a way that honours Him—in our relationships, decisions, actions, and attitudes
The Gospel focuses strongly on forgiveness.
Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him. Perhaps Peter thought forgiving seven times was generous, but Jesus replied that we should forgive not just seven times, but "seventy-seven times."
Jesus then tells the parable of a servant whose master forgives him a huge debt. However, when that same servant meets someone who owes him a much smaller amount, he refuses to forgive him and has him punished.
When the master discovers this, he becomes angry because the servant accepted mercy but refused to show mercy to someone else.
The message is powerful: We can not continually ask God for forgiveness while refusing to forgive others from our hearts.
In summary,
Tomorrow's readings give us one powerful message: Forgive as you have been forgiven.
Forgiveness is not always easy. Sometimes, the hurt is deep, the disappointment is painful, and letting go may feel impossible. However, Jesus reminds us that forgiveness is at the heart of our relationship with God.
Forgiving someone does not necessarily mean that what they did was right, nor does it mean we must remain in a harmful situation. Rather, forgiveness means choosing not to allow anger, hatred, or bitterness to continue controlling our hearts.
God has been incredibly patient and merciful with us. Every time we come to Him sincerely, He welcomes us and offers us another chance. Tomorrow, He invites us to extend that same mercy to others.
I pray that God Heals every pain, anger, and bitterness in our hearts and helps us to let go of anything that prevents us from loving others freely. Teach us to be merciful, compassionate, and patient, just as God is merciful to us.
Lord, may we always remember that we belong to You, and may our lives reflect Your love and forgiveness. Amen 🙏
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| Victor Ofor |
MY REFLECTION
Theme: Be Like God by Embracing His Love, Mercy and Forgiveness
Now, looking at the First Reading, the Responsorial Psalm, the Second Reading, the Gospel Acclamation, and the Gospel reading, all we can see is God's love, God's patience with us, and God's attitude. Yes, God's attitude.
And this is the attitude that we are called to follow. We are expected to adopt it and try to perfect our own way of life in order to model God's nature and God's attitude.
If you look at God, He has many dimensions: the dimension of mercy, the dimension of forgiveness, the dimension of compassion, the dimension of love, and the dimension of sacrifice... God is so perfect.
It is just like a sculptor. Imagine a sculptor who is trying to mould something, create a sculpture, or a woodcarver who is trying to carve something out of wood, perhaps even a human portrait. Now, the woodcarver has carved this beautiful human portrait, and then he says to his students, "Okay, my students, try to carve the same portrait that I have carved."
The students may try to copy and carve exactly what the first carver carved, but as they begin, you start seeing some mistakes. You start seeing some flaws.
This is how it is with God. Whatever He does is good and perfect. Our own task is to try to model our way of life after what He has shown us. We try to attain what He has modelled for us because what He does is perfect. It is the highest perfection; it is the highest good. It is what we need to follow.
Christ Himself said, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." So, we are trying to model our lives and trying to attain the level of perfection that our Lord has shown us.
Now, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, as Scripture puts it. He came to earth, and the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 2:5 tells us that we should have the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus. He came to earth, not counting equality with God something to be grasped, but taking the form of a servant and being found in human form. He humbled Himself, even to death on the Cross.
And this is something we need to emulate.
The First Reading tells us: "Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray."
Looking at Christ on the Cross, He saw all the evil that had been done to Him. He saw the wrong people had done to Him and to those He loved. They stoned Him. They spat on Him. They struck His head with a reed. They tore His garments. And after all the evil they had done to Him, He said:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
I don't think there is a greater example of love and compassion than this. This is the model we are called to emulate. We are called to forgive others for the wrong they have done to us.
Sometimes, you might see the wrong that someone has done to you, especially someone very close to you, and it will hurt you so much. We have seen cases where fathers can give their children out for sacrifice. We have heard stories of fathers who can even harm their own children in order to make money and things like that.
Now imagine the kind of worst scenario that your neighbour, or someone very close to you, can do to you.
The Bible also tells us that we should not place our ultimate trust in man, but that our trust should be in God (see psalm 118:8). Yes, there is a level of trust that we should give to God. It is the first and primary trust. The trust we place in man should never be compared with the trust we have in God.
A man can promise you heaven and earth and still fail. Even we ourselves might say that we want to do something, that we want to do this or that, but we still fail because of our human weaknesses.
But our Father in heaven does not look at us in this way. He knows our weaknesses, and He still has compassion on us.
From the Responsorial Psalm, we are reminded that God, our Father, looks at our weaknesses and still has compassion on us. He knows how weak we are.
The only thing we need to do is to ask Him. Ask God, the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life to strengthen us and give us the grace to be able to model our lives after Him, after God, after the Holy Trinity.
The Holy Trinity is the model of unity, the perfection of unity. Therefore, we are not to quarrel to cause division and enmity among our neighbours. We are called to model our lives after God.
Dear brothers and sisters, even the Second Reading, from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, tells us: "For to this end Christ died and lived again."
Looking at His life, from His Incarnation, through His public ministry, to His death and resurrection, Christ is always showing love to everyone always.
My dear brothers and sisters, I wish we could emulate Christ.
The Gospel Acclamation says:
"A new commandment I give to you, says the Lord, that you love one another even as I have loved you."
It says that we should love as He has loved us.
We are not simply called to love others as we love ourselves, because some people do not even love themselves as much as God loves them. Some people are looking only for the means of happiness and not the end—the perfection of happiness. Some people do not love themselves so much that they even lead themselves towards hell.
But God says, "Love as I have loved you."
This is a sacrificial love—the kind of love that can even make you lay down your life for someone.
We have examples of many holy men and women, the saints, who have done this. One example is Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who laid down his life for another person. He exchanged his life for someone who was about to be killed, and today the Church honours him as a martyr of charity.
God is always giving us opportunities and means to come closer to Him. What more do you want Jesus to do for you that He has not already done?
He has given us different means. He has given us the Church. He has given us the Sacraments, so that we can live a good life, come to Him at the end of our earthly journey, and meet Him at the end of time.
Peter was asking, "What if my brother sins against me? How many times should I forgive him?"
Christ says, "Seventy times seven."
He is simply telling us that our mercy and forgiveness should imitate the ocean of mercy and forgiveness of our Lord God.
My dear brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit help us today and throughout this week to emulate Him. On Monday, the mother Church would celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Let us keep in mind throughout this week—and for the rest of our lives—the love God has for us.
Saint Paul tells us that Christ died for us.
Let us try to emulate so good our God. Let us try to live according to His attitude of love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and sacrifice.
Holy Spirit, help us.
Mother Mary, pray for us.
Amen.
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| Jennifer Nwatu |
MY REFLECTION
''REMEMBER''
Do you remember everything the book of sirach says in the first reading?
You may need to go back and read again 😊
I find the aspect most interesting where Bel Sirach emphasized the Four "Remembers''
First- He says Remember the end of your life, and cease from enmity.
Second- Remember destruction and death, and be true to the commandments.
Third- Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbour.
Fourth- Remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook ignorance.
Quite helpful don't you think?
If only we would heed and make efforts daily 🤔
We can at least try regardless of our constant struggles. Jesus continues to give us a hand but are we willing to take his hand?
Never forget the deeds of the Lord for they are new each day. Let this be our guide and Light.
Remember and never forget just like this beautiful composition of Deborah Governor ''Remember Me" a very fine Lenten composition walking us through the commands of our Lord.
God help us always 🙏🏽
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