Gospel (Mt 18,21-35) - At that time, Peter approached Jesus and said to him: «Lord, if my brother commits sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Up to seven times? And Jesus answered him: «I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. »For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is similar to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. He had begun to settle the accounts, when a man was introduced to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Since he was unable to repay, the master ordered him to be sold with his wife, children and everything he owned, and thus pay off his debt. Then the servant, prostrate on the ground, begged him saying: "Have patience with me and I will give you everything back". The master had compassion on that servant, let him go and forgave him the debt. »As soon as he went out, that servant found one of his companions, who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him by the neck and choked him, saying: “Give back what you owe!”. His companion, prostrate on the ground, begged him, saying: "Have patience with me and I will restore you." But he wouldn't, he went and had him thrown into prison until he paid the debt. Seeing what had happened, his companions were very sorry and went to tell their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the man and said to him: “You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you prayed to me. Shouldn't you also have had pity on your companion, just as I had pity on you?". Disdained, the master handed him over to his torturers until he returned all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do with you if you do not forgive from your heart, each of you his own brother."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Peter approaches Jesus and asks him how many times he must forgive. And to show his generosity he also makes a substantial offer: seven times. Pietro not only wants to overcome the instinctive and normal "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", but he is ready to do more than what is asked. Jesus responds in a lofty manner, like the sky: "I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven", that is, always. Forgiveness, like love, is without limits and boundaries. Only in this way can the mechanism that continually regenerates sin, division and revenge among men be defused. Jesus, seeing Peter's perplexity, speaks of a king who deals with his servants. One of them has a disastrous debt: ten thousand talents (some tens of billions of euros). The servant outlines a promise that in truth he will never be able to keep. And he asks the king to be patient. The king's magnanimity leads him to completely cancel the debt. We can imagine the joy of that servant in the face of such clemency. And yet this extraordinary mercy did not even make a dent in the egocentrism of his heart. He remained identical to before. And we see this when, immediately afterwards, he meets another servant who owed him a very small debt. Not only is he not patient, as he had asked the king for his debt, he goes as far as to grab him by the neck almost suffocating him. It is obvious that the conclusion is dramatic for him: his hardened and evil heart led him to the decision to impose the harshest punishment on that servant. Jesus concludes the parable with the king's decisive condemnation of this greedy and wicked servant of his. Whoever lets himself be guided by the hardness of his heart will be punished by the same hardness as him. With this parable, Jesus reminds us of our condition as debtors before God. And he invites us to thank the Lord for his great mercy who forgives everything. Let us watch over ourselves and try to imitate God's mercy. We are indeed quick to defend ourselves, but inflexible towards others. It is for this reason that in the prayer of the 'Our Father' Jesus makes us say: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors". The parable we heard helps us understand the seriousness of this request we make to the Father. Let us convert our hearts to the Lord and welcome his mercy.