Mt.18:21-35
“So shall my Word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
But it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is.11:55) The true story of Mr. Jacob DeShazer testifies the transforming power of the Word of God in our lives. He was a vibrant young serviceman of the American troop. It was the frightful days of the Second World War. The U.S was not involved in the war until the Japanese bombed and tore down the Pearl Harbour in December 1941. The next day the U.S. declared war against the Japanese. Jacob hated the Japanese and volunteered as one of the team members to a bombing mission against the Japanese.
He accomplished the mission anyhow while flying back home his aircraft was ran out of the fuel and crashed in China. Jacob and his four companions survived the accident however they were caught by the Japanese army. The next forty months were the dreadful days of Jacob’s life. He was brutally tortured by the Japanese army and three of his companions were executed and killed and the fourth one was starved to death. Jacob was sentenced to life imprisonment as a prisoner of war. Out of forty months of imprisonment, he spent 34 months in solitary confinement. He had to struggle with cold weather as well as constant health issues such as dysentery and the inhuman behaviour of the Japanese soldiers.
The Youngman’s heart was filled with hatred and revenge towards the Japanese army. Amidst all these perils the memories about his loving family were the sole consolation for him. He was born and brought up in a Christian family atmosphere and his father was a minister of the church. He was quite sure that his mother’s unceasing prayer would strengthen him to survive these horrendous days. Those days he experienced a great passion to read the word of God. The Japanese soldiers were reluctant to give it in the beginning and he was given a bible for three weeks.
He started to read the Bible with great devotion and later on, he wrote about the transforming effect of the Word of God that he experienced in his life: “I eagerly began to read its pages. I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity. I realized that these people did not know anything about my Saviour and that if Christ is not in a heart, it is natural to be cruel.”
He was deeply touched by the forgiveness that Jesus extended to his persecutors on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Those days he promised Christ that if he would survive the prison camp, he would come back to Japan as a missionary and make Jesus known in this land. 1945 war was ended. The broken, sick young man was released and went back to the US. 1948 he came back to Japan along with his wife and continued his mission in Japan for 30 years. He constructed a church in the very city that he bombed and destroyed… Once he was touched by the Word of God, his hatred and revengeful feelings were replaced by forgiveness and compassion and he became the face of Christ for the Japanese…
Our life has been a celebration of God’s unconditional forgiveness. All of us had our share of failures in our earthly sojourn. Yet God did not forgo us forever, his merciful and overwhelming love always embraces us. As we experience this divine love tangibly, we are called to grow into this divine love and practice it in our day to day life. St. Augustine says: “Receive what you are, and become what you receive.” All of us called to imitate this unconditional forgiveness that we experience from God in our day to day life.
In today’s gospel, we see Peter approaches Jesus with a question – how many times we need to forgive. He has already prepared an answer – isn’t it seven times? Seven is considered as the perfect number and beyond that, there is no place for forgiveness. Jesus instructs Peter to forgive seventy-seven times which means we can’t limit ourselves to a numerical number rather it should become part and parcel of our day to day life.
Then Jesus shares a meaningful parable that emphasizes the attitude of forgiveness in our life. The servant who was called by the king to settle his debt shares his struggles and difficulties, so he requests extra time for paying back his debt. By hearing the sad story of the servant, the King’s heart melts, and not only the extra time but also cuts down the huge debt. On the way back the same servant meets another servant, who was indebted to him rather a small amount. Anyhow, he failed to practice the forgiveness and mercy that he received from the master and acts very rudely and puts him in the prison. When the master came to know this, he realizes the ingratitude of the servant and acts with justice and puts him in the prison till the last penny, he pays back…
The Parable invites us to reflect on the theme ‘why we need to consider forgiveness as the attitude of our life?’ When we introspect our personal life, we could realize with gratitude that our lives have been a celebration of God’s mercy and forgiveness… God has been so generous with us and he never counts our failures and unjust acts and punished back for all these iniquities rather he gives us time to change ourselves and extend his unconditional forgiveness. God does not have any guarantee that we would change yet he trusts and respects our freedom. He gives us opportunities one after the other but what is our response to our fellow brethren who seek our mercy and forgiveness? Often we want to act with a sense of justice and not ready to be merciful and give them some more time or trying to alleviate their burden. The destiny of the servant, who lost the favour of the king, reminds us that unless we put into practice the mercy and forgiveness that we experience from the Lord, we can’t expect it again from the Lord. Let us allow the Word of God to transform ourselves that we may be able to forgive the failures of our brethren and become the merciful face of Christ…