Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Myroslav Vons on the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 3, 2024
Very often in our lives, we do not believe that God, in his infinite mercy, actually forgives us for our sins in the Sacrament of Confession. Very often, we think that if it is difficult for me to forgive, then God does not forgive so easily. But we are very wrong to think or feel this way. The Gospel of Matthew tells us clearly, “And out of pity for him, the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
“And out of pity for him, the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
In today’s Sunday Gospel, we read an extremely interesting parable. The parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. What do we know about this king? The Gospel does not give us his age, name, or place. However, we read about three things that this king possessed.
1. The king is incredibly rich. His wealth is the envy of other kings. How do we know this? Because not everyone could borrow 10,000 pounds, which was 60 million denarii at the time. Not so much to borrow as to give to another person. Let’s look at our lives. Each of us has a certain amount of money that we can afford to give to another person, and this will not change our lifestyle or our ability to buy something for ourselves. So did the king; he gave the debt to his servant without even thinking about the amount of the debt. This amount of pounds was a lot for the servant, but not for the king.
2. The king is just. He did not care about the status of the servant. It did not matter whether he had a job or not. According to the law of that time, anyone who took a loan had to pay it back. If they did not pay back the loan, they were punished.
3. The King is merciful. When Jesus told this story to his listeners, they probably could not believe that anyone in their right mind could forgive such a large debt. Very often in our lives, we do not believe that God, in his infinite mercy, actually forgives us for our sins in the Sacrament of Confession. Very often, we think that if it is difficult for me to forgive, then God does not forgive so easily. But we are very wrong to think or feel this way. The Gospel of Matthew tells us clearly, “And out of pity for him, the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
What do we know about the servant? The Gospel does not give us his age or status. We read that he was married and had children. However, we do know three things about this servant.
1. The servant was overconfident and arrogant. From the very first lines of this Gospel, when you read it, is it surprising that the servant lent such a large sum of money? He knew in advance that his possessions and wealth would not allow him to pay them back. What did this servant hope for when he borrowed such a large sum of money? Even when the king told him to sell everything he owned and pay back the debt, the amount of money he had was probably not even a thousandth of what he owed. Yet the servant falls at the king’s feet and asks, “Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” How can the servant continue to be so arrogant and so blind? He then promises that he will repay the king. But this is unrealistic. An arrogant servant does not ask for forgiveness. He does not ask for a reduction of the debt. He continues to lie and promise. What does the king do? He sees and hears all of this, and he is overwhelmingly generous. The king forgives the servant his debt of 60 million denarii.
2. The servant had a hard heart. As soon as he came out, he saw his fellow servant, who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, began to strangle him, and said, “Pay me back what you owe.” The fellow servant fell down, begged, and promised that he would repay the debt. But the servant had no mercy and threw him into prison. Let’s look at the behaviour of the king and the servant. On the one hand, we see a king with great power and wealth. On the other hand, we see a king who does not believe the arrogant servant who lies to him and says that he will repay the debt, even though it is unrealistic. But despite this, the king shows his mercy. On the other hand, there is the servant who is bankrupt and miraculously saved. He strangles his fellow servant and demands the return of 100 denarii. And when his fellow servant says, “Be patient; I’ll give it back,” the servant does not believe him and throws him in prison. The servant does not have a heart that is filled with mercy, sensitivity, understanding, and gratitude. The servant did not realise what a blessing he had received from the king. He did not believe in his heart or in his mind that he had been forgiven so much. And so he does not believe others. Even though his fellow servant’s debt was only 100 days’ labour, or 600,000 times less than what the king had given him in his great generosity.
3. The servant is unfaithful and ungrateful. Let’s see. The servant did not thank the king. We do not read that he threw himself down at the king’s feet with joy, crying and playing his harp and tambourines, singing and dancing to praise his master’s generosity. We do not read that the servant stayed in his master’s house to serve him. The Gospel makes it clear that the servant left and went out of his master’s house. As if he had forgotten what he had been given. It was as if he had forgotten that he had been saved from death. How often do we stay in our Father’s house, the church? How often do we feel peace within the walls of this church? The choir sings beautifully. We pray. The priest says something good in the homily. And then we get up and leave. And very often, like this servant, we immediately forget about the generous gifts we received through the Sacrament of Confession, the Holy Eucharist, and through joint prayer at the Holy Liturgy. Sometimes we feel like we have a veil over our eyes. We are even afraid to make the sign of the cross outside the church. To admit that we are Christians in front of our friends. Why is that?
Finally, let us not be afraid to come to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Let us not be afraid to forgive each other. St. Cyril of Jerusalem said in his homilies that the greatness of your sins does not exceed the greatness of God’s mercy (cf. Homily 2). Mercy comes from God’s boundless love for us. Amen.
