Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 13 Sep 2026
XXIV Week in Ordinary Time
Sir 27:30-28:7. Rom 14.7-9. Mt 18:21-35
Receiving and Giving Pity
We have often heard the image of the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is full of fish, plants, and living things. The Dead Sea, or the Salt Sea, is not fit for life. One reason is this: the Sea of Galilee receives water from the Jordan and gives it back to the Jordan. The Dead Sea receives the water and keeps it within itself.
The one who receives pity must show pity. The one who receives forgiveness must give forgiveness. The one who receives love must show love.
In the first reading, the Book of Sirach speaks about anger, wrath, quarrels, revenge, and forgiveness. Written around 180 B.C., this book presents Hebrew wisdom rooted in the Torah, worship, moral life, and daily relationships. Sirach says, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.”
Anger may begin when injustice is done. But when anger continues, it becomes bitterness. At first, anger holds us like fire. Later, we begin to hold on to anger. We refuse to let it go.
Sirach raises a serious theological question: if one human being is angry with another, how can he expect healing from the Lord? How can one receive from God what one refuses to give to another? Forgiveness does not mean calling injustice justice. Forgiveness means refusing revenge. When we receive mercy, we also receive the responsibility to show mercy.
Sirach says, “Remember your last days.” A person who remembers death and the end of life will not easily hold hatred. We must remember the commandments. We must remember the covenant. When David forgot that he was chosen by God, he sinned with Bathsheba. Many times, we forget the mercy the Lord has shown us, but we refuse to forget the hurt others have caused us.
The responsorial psalm sings, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 103 is written like a dialogue with oneself: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” The psalmist speaks to his own soul and reminds it of God’s goodness. God forgives, heals, redeems, and crowns us with mercy. He does not remain angry forever.
As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our sins from us. God creates distance between the sinner and the sin. His mercy has no boundary. In Exodus 34, mercy becomes part of the very name of God.
In the second reading, Paul says, “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” We belong to Christ. Therefore, our anger, wounded ego, and desire for revenge must not become our masters. Christ alone must be our Lord. Saint Augustine says that we must love everyone in God. If we belong to Christ, our relationships also must be seen in Christ.
In the Gospel, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Peter thinks of seven as fullness and generosity. But Jesus answers, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” He does not give a new number. He opens a new way of life.
In Genesis, Lamech speaks of revenge seventy-seven times. Jesus changes the direction. Where human history increased revenge, the Kingdom of heaven increases mercy.
Jesus then tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. A servant owes ten thousand talents. One talent was equal to six thousand denarii. To repay even one talent, a worker would need many years of labour. The debt is impossible to pay. The servant says, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” He asks for time. But the king gives more than time. He cancels the debt. This is mercy.
The same servant then meets a fellow servant who owes him a small amount. The fellow servant uses the same words: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But the first servant refuses. He received mercy, but he did not give mercy. He received forgiveness, but he did not become forgiving.
The heart of the parable is the question of the king: “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” This is the theological centre of the Gospel. God’s mercy received by us must become mercy given by us.
Today’s readings give us three lessons.
First, we cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can control our response. The evil of another person need not define my goodness. Someone may hurt me, but I need not become a hurtful person. Someone may act without mercy, but I need not lose mercy.
Second, anger itself becomes punishment. There may be no separate punishment for anger. Anger punishes the one who carries it. It is the punishment we give ourselves for the fault of another person. Bitterness burns the vessel that holds it.
Third, we must choose the mindset of the Sea of Galilee, not the mind of the Dead Sea. The king in the parable is like the Sea of Galilee. He receives and gives. The servant is like the Dead Sea. He receives but does not give. One produces life. The other becomes lifeless.
Today the Lord asks us to remember the mercy we have received. He asks us to forgive from the heart. Let us not hold tightly to anger, bitterness, and revenge. Let us become people who receive pity and give pity, who receive forgiveness and give forgiveness, who receive love and give love.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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