Sunday, September 13, 2026

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings for this Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time bring us to one of most demanding–and most beautiful–teachings of the Christian life: FORGIVENESS. Sirach warns us against holding tightly to anger and resentment, while the psalm reminds us that the Lord is “kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.” In the Gospel, Peter asks Jesus the question that perhaps all of us have asked at one time or another: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?

Peter suggests seven times, probably thinking that he is being extraordinarily generous. Jesus responds, “not seven times but seventy-seven times.” He is not giving Peter a larger number to keep tract of. Rather, Jesus is telling us that Christian forgiveness cannot be reduced to counting. The disciple of Christ must develop a heart that is continually disposed toward mercy.

Forgiveness, of course, does not mean pretending that an injury never happened. Nor does it mean that injustice should be ignored or that trust must immediately be restored. Christian forgiveness mans refusing to allow hatred and vengeance to possess our hearts. Sometimes forgiveness comes only after a long struggle of prayer and grace. Yet every time we pray the Our Father, we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We cannot sincerely ask for a mercy that we ourselves stubbornly refuse to give.

This Sunday’s message leads beautifully into two commemorations we celebrate this week. On Monday, September 14, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy cross, when the Church lifts up the Cross not as an instrument of defeat but as the sign of Christ’s victory and God’s immeasurable love. Upon that Cross, Jesus Himself showed us what forgiveness looks like. Then on Tuesday, September 15, we observe the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Standing beneath the Cross, Mary shared profoundly in the suffering of her Son. She could not remove His cross, but neither did she abandon Him.

Perhaps this week we might place before the Cross one resentment, one old wound, or one person whom we find particularly difficult to forgive. We may not yet be able to say that the hurt is gone, but we can ask Christ to begin changing our hearts. The mercy we extend to others is ultimately the mercy that we ourselves have first received from Him.