Oops! I Did It Again (24th Sunday Ordinary A)

Britney Spears had the world as her captivated audience in the year 2000 for her teen pop song that spoke about a girl who thinks love is a game and plays with her lover's emotions. The song Oops!... I Did It Again became her signature song.  Was it her unique voice that made the song popular? Or was it her breath-taking dance moves? Or maybe her signature low-rise jeans and exposed belly as she wiggled about the stage? Perhaps...  Perhaps...  But it could also be, I suspect, the identification of millions of people with the experience of having repeatedly misbehaved in life.  So that the expression, “Oops, I did it again,” is simply a favorite.  Millions wouldn’t mind intoning it anytime of the day.

When every now and then we find ourselves helpless scratching our heads or biting our nails as we say with real regrets, “Oops, I did it again,” we acknowledge with humility and shame our need for forgiveness.  Not once, not just twice, not even thrice.  More times.  Peter, in today’s gospel reading (Mt. 18:21-35), is cognizant of the reality of repeated offense done against one another and against God.  Hence his question, “how often must I forgive?”  He follows it up with his opinion: “Seven times?”  Maybe he is expecting to be affirmed because seven is a perfect number and, by human calculation, to be able to forgive seven times is undoubtedly magnanimous enough.

Jesus’ reply bears again the perspective of God, not of man:  No. Not seven times, Peter. Seventy times seven!  This means in effect, setting no limit to the act of mercy and forgiveness.  Jesus is saying here, “Peter, when you forgive, forget about counting.”

Peter has a sense only of the thriving sinfulness of the world; hence, it is important for him to know how far forgiveness can be offered.  Jesus knows not just the sinful side of reality, he is aware, more importantly, of the liberating grace that abounds even more.  Only with mercy and forgiveness can this broken world be saved.  God is making sure we have unlimited source of this grace.  Sin, however it thrives and flourishes, however it comes back again and again and again, will have to be conquered by mercy and acts of forgiveness.  God’s unconditional mercy always has the last say!

Chronic sinners as we are, we can only submit in gratitude and humility to God as we chant David’s psalm as our own: 

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the East is from the West,

So far has he removed our transgressions from us (Ps 103: 10-12).

The ensuing self-explanatory parable of the unforgiving servant in today’s gospel is meant to highlight the fact that we are asked to forgive as we have experienced it from God.  God’s mercy is as expansive as the distance between heaven and earth, between one end of the earth and the other.  We experience this unconditional mercy of God; therefore, we just have to share that same liberating experience to those who have sinned against us.  Our failure to do so shows our lack of gratitude and appreciation of our experience of God’s mercy. 

Maybe we find this difficult and almost impossible because we humans are very calculating.  Our sense of justice is oftentimes devoid of the spirit of love.  To be appeased when aggrieved, we make sure we get even.  Or if we do forgive, we set limits. Otherwise, it’s foolishness; our human logic reckons so.

My father was a disciplinarian.  It was characteristic of him to pronounce clear rules, limits and boundaries to be observed at home.  First offense was tolerated as a necessary mistake to learn from. Second offense called for an unforgettable dressing down as a strong precaution. Third offense was the last warning!  Over and above this was unacceptable, the offender had no more excuse and must get lost!  I was naturally obedient and careful for I didn’t like the feeling of being scolded.  One of us was not.  So he reached the point, according to the rules, when he had to leave the house and live wherever he wanted.  With his absence, my father tried to appear undisturbed.  But with my mother twisting my father’s arm, he finally set out to look for his wayward son.  After this event, my father stopped counting.  Perhaps, he realized how foolish it is to set quotas for forgiveness when it concerns a loved one.

We may be very calculating. But beyond the limit that we have clearly set, we do realize sometimes that we still possess a heart that continues to beat with love for the offender. It is this same love with which God approaches our repetitious transgressions.   This love does not know how to count up to seven.  Much less compute seventy times seven!  This love only knows infinity.

So once again, we are facing the high standards of Christian love.  It demands that we forgive those who have offended us as often as they come with sorrow for their transgressions.  To enable us to actually do it, we just have to remember with gratitude how we ourselves have been forgiven by the merciful and kind God... again and again... and again.   

We often go to God admitting our guilt saying “Oops, I did it again.”  We experience his mercy anyhow.  It gives me pure and innocent joy to imagine God granting his grace of forgiveness for the nth time scratching his head or biting his nails mumbling to Himself, “Oops, I did it again...” but in His case, without any ounce of regrets.