THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost 6 November 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

The parable that Jesus gives us today reminds us of Hell. The servant that was without compassion for his fellow servant (after he had received so much from his master) was delivered to the torturers until he paid all the debt. As long as the man is in prison and being tortured he has no means of making any money so he therefore will never be released because the debt will never be paid. Those who are condemned to Hell likewise are given over to torturers and they too will never be released from their prison or torture because they can merit nothing from all their suffering in Hell.

It is a frightening thing to be cast into prison here on earth, but this is nothing compared to the eternal prison in Hell. The temporal prisons must end sometime – either with our release or with our death. In Hell there is no release or death to escape its horrors.

Every sinner is an indebted servant. We are all servants if we consider our catechism that teaches that we were made to: “know love and SERVE God in this world.” If we succeed in doing this then we will be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven. The sinner though is an unworthy servant. The sinner takes the things of God and abuses them in such a way that amounts to stealing from God. For example pride, which is at the root of all sins, takes from God the honor and glory that belongs only to Him and attributes it to ourselves. We as sinners have become thieves – stealing that which only belongs to God. Our position as servants does not excuse our actions or condone them in any way – on the contrary because we are servants and have been entrusted with so much we become all the more guilty. To whom much has been given much will be required.

If we could begin to tally our sins and offenses against God we would soon discover that we have become far more indebted than the unfaithful servant in today’s parable. All hope is not lost though. If we will only humbly confess our crimes to God’s minister; resolved with the help of God’s grace to do better; He is always ready to forgive us everything. It is a most wonderful and beautiful experience to receive this forgiveness and consolation. Words fall short in trying to express this consolation. Only those who have experienced it can understand it.

We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. As we have been indebted to God, likewise our neighbor often becomes indebted to us. As God has been merciful to us and is ready and eager always to pardon us, so we must do likewise towards our fellow man. We must give as we have been given to. Whatever our neighbor might owe to us, it is always miniscule compared to what God has forgiven us. So when our neighbor asks our forgiveness we must be eager to give it just as God is eager to forgive us.

It is truly in giving that we receive. When we are in a position to give to someone else we become like God. We become more closely conformable to Him. We must be very cautious though because with every step closer to God and perfection there is an equal danger in becoming unjust and prideful and/or vain in stealing that which belongs to God. We are called to draw nearer to God and to become like Him, but at the same time we must never forget our position and remember that we are not gods.

While always remaining humble and having a loving heart for God and true charity for our fellow man we draw closer to God and receive greater graces. God has an infinite treasure of gifts and He is eager to give them to us as long as we persevere as good and faithful servants. The more that we are able to give and do for our fellow man, so much the more God will reward us with greater gifts. Far from depleting what we have when we forgive our debtors, we actually increase our treasures as God rewards us many times over for whatever we do for our neighbor for the Love of Him.