The Gospel according to St. Matthew, xviii. 23–35
"At that time Jesus said: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him an hundred pence, and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow-servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he paid the debt. Now his fellow-servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him and said to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me; shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall My heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts."
Summary of the Morrow's Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow upon the gospel of the day, and we shall thereby learn: 1st, what are our duties in regard to the justice of God; 2nd, our duties towards His mercy. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to recall to ourselves, when we are speaking, that divine justice will demand from us an account of all our words, and when we act, that it will require an account of each one of our acts; 2nd, to act towards our neighbor in the same spirit of mercy and endurance which God exercises toward us. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of Our Lord: "Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke vi. 36).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Our Lord Jesus Christ under the figure of the king of which our gospel speaks; a just king, who requires from his officers an exact account of the goods he has committed to their stewardship, but also a merciful king, who grants forgiveness to whoever asks it of him, on condition that he himself pardons others. How greatly Jesus Christ deserves through this double title all our homage! Let us render it to Him from the bottom of our heart.
FIRST POINT
Our Duties toward the Justice of God.
We ought to forestall it, to fear, and to satisfy it.
To forestall it, by always keeping our conscience pure, because, like the master of our gospel, this adorable justice will one day cite us to appear before its tribunal; there we shall have to render to it an account of every action, of every word, of every thought, of the employment of our time, of the use of our talents, of our graces, of our possessions; and we must always keep this account ready, because at any moment death may demand it from us. Alas! we hardly ever think of it! We live as though we had to render no account of anything to anyone, and as though it were due only to ourselves. We should act very differently if we were to say: I am before the eyes of my Judge to whom I shall have to render an account of this action! How much more discreetly should we speak if we said to ourselves: God is there; He is listening to my words and will require an account of them.
We ought to fear the justice of God. "It is terrible," says St. Paul, "to fall into His hands" without being ready. The king, our gospel tells us, "took away from the unfaithful servant all his possessions;" that is to say, God will take away from the sinner all his possessions, whether of riches, of grace, of glory, even of nature itself; He will cast him into "outer darkness;" God will condemn the sinner to the dreadful darkness of hell; He will deliver up the sinner to devils, who in order to torment him will make use of all they possess of intelligence, of strength, and of rage; lastly, "He will cast them into the darkness, hands and feet bound"—that is to say, these miserable men will not be able to take one step or perform one single action which will enable them to escape from it; that is to say, their misery will be eternal. These chastisements are doubtless severe, but it was necessary they should be so, because if the fear of so great an evil did not restrain the passions, there would neither be righteous men on earth nor any saints in heaven; every one, yielding to his evil nature, would be damned. Now there is nothing more worthy of God than to have made it a necessity, as it were, for us to be happy, and in a manner forced to enter into paradise. O my God! hitherto I had not understood it. Thanks for hell; it is the creation of Thy love as well as of Thy justice; enable me to fear it with the salutary fear which is the beginning of wisdom.
We ought to satisfy divine justice; this is what is taught us by the servant of our gospel. He prostrates himself at the feet of his master (Matt. xviii. 26): let us humble ourselves in the same way before God. It is the first satisfaction demanded by His justice. Then, again, the servant prays earnestly (Ibid.), he prays with confidence (Ibid.), he prays with a sincere will to repair the past by means of a better life (Ibid.). Let us act in the same way and we shall obtain pardon.
SECOND POINT
Our Duties towards the Mercy of God.
We ought:
To love it, for is it not infinitely amiable, this mercy of a God who, offended everywhere, at every moment, by all kinds of persons, and in all kinds of ways, bears everything in silence, and heaps blessings even on those who offend Him; this mercy which might have visited us with death when we were in a state of mortal sin, which has borne with us up to the present day, in which He offers us pardon with His paradise, and conjures us to accept both the one and the other? Touching goodness, symbolized by the king in the gospel, who had pity on his servant and allowed him time in which to pay his debt! (Matt. xviii. 27.)
To have confidence in the divine mercy. Oh, how ill they understand the goodness of God who mistrust it, are discouraged, give way to grief and exclaim: Heaven forsakes me; I shall not be saved! Let us better understand God and His mercy. In the service of so good a God, he who wills it may be saved; it is sufficient to will it. Whatever may be our wretchedness, we ought always to have confidence and courage, to strive against obstacles, and to look upon it as certain that we shall be saved if we will to be saved. Whatever reverses God may send us, let us remember that He strikes only to save.
To imitate the mercy of God in our relations towards our neighbor. The servant in the gospel, after having obtained pardon himself, would not forgive his fellow-servant; the king hears of it, sends for him, and retracts the favor accorded to him. "I had pity upon you," he says to him, "ought not you also to have pity on your fellow-servant?" "Thus," says Jesus Christ, "will your heavenly Father do towards him who does not forgive his brother from the bottom of his heart." There is therefore no forgiveness for him who does not forgive, for him who retains any resentment for wrongs inflicted on him. God bears all our sins without revenging Himself, without being carried away by anger, without even showing that He is displeased. It is to teach us that we must not be so sensitive to the ill that is done us, or that we imagine to be done us, or be impatient, angry, vindictive, implacable, often for a trifle; that we must, on the contrary, be good, gentle, indulgent, merciful, like our heavenly Father, and, like Him, to feel great pity for the miseries of humanity in the person of our brethren.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.