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11th Sunday in Matthew August 12, 2007 Then the Master said to him: "O you wicked servant. I forgave the tremendous debt, which you owed me, because you pleaded with me; should you have not exercised the same compassion for your fellow servant, as I did for you?" (Matthew 18:32-34) During His 3 year ministry here amongst the humans, the Lord constantly sought to pave the way to perfection for all, who would listen to Him. He sought by word, and by example, that to do the right thing was not an extra chore, but a matter of simple rules, He wanted to condition all souls, so that automatically, they would do what was proper and good, being that His listeners, as well as all humanity, had been gifted by God with a free will. The Lord was constantly being confronted by the crass hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the elite of the Hebrew race at that time. They fought the Lord constantly, always making an effort to entrap Him, so that He could be condemned, and thus be out of their way, so that they would be free to exploit their fellow citizens. Oftentimes, they would proceed before the Altar in the Temples , and ostentatiously raise their hands to impress God, and to thank Him that they are not like the rest, who are blatant sinners! The Pharisees would go on and on, reasoning, that their lengthy prayers would impress God and His people. On one such occasion, the Lord chastised the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the Heathens, whose thinking was, that God was sure to listen to them, because of the length of their prayers.The Lord emphasized, that God knows our needs, even before we utter them to Him, and that is why He stated: "do not be like them, but rather pray in this manner." (Matthew 6:8-9). At that point, the Lord gave to us the model, synoptic Prayer, which we all learned by heart, from our tenderest years, "Our Father, Who art in Heaven...". Etc. The Lord's prayer is a series of petitions glorifying God and also praying for our fundamental needs. If we are truthful with ourselves, we shall have to admit that many times we repeat the Lord's Prayer routinely; whereas, we should pause at every phrase, and meditate to visualize the phrase we are repeating, and not recite the Prayer as we do a poem. In one of the phrases we pray: "And forgive us our trespasses, that is our debts, as we forgive those, who have trespassed against us!" This phrase is what today's Gospel was all about. It is known as the Parable of the wicked servant, which in fact, has so many Christians imitators. Reciting the Prayer, "Our Father," we ask for the forgiveness of God, when in fact, we have no predisposition to forgive our fellow human. The model Prayer, which our Lord bequeathed to us, is in the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Immediately after giving us this Prayer, the Lord says: "If you forgive your fellow humans their faults or sins, our Heavenly Father will forgive you; but, if you do not forgive the faults or sins of your fellow humans, neither will our Father forgive you." (Matthew 6:14-15).Today's Parable is like a vivid movie scene. The Lord likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a King, who at a certain time, called all his subjects to collect what they owed him. One of his subjects owed the king an enormous debt of 10,000 talents. Unable to pay this huge debt, the king commanded, that he and his family be sold as slaves, and all his property to be sold, so as to offset some of the debt. It must have been a heart rending scene. The wretched soul fell to his knees, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, pleaded anxiously to the king for mercy; - to give him extra time to make good his debt. The king deeply moved by the fervent plea, not only granted an extension, but forgave him of his debt totally. One can imagine the transformation of the tears of agony into tears of joy. The jubilation, which must have included the kissing of the king's feet in gratitude. The scene now moves immediately outside the palace gates. The jubilant, but now freed from his great debt, sees a fellow servant, who owed him the paltry sum of only 120 pence. He rushes up to him, grabs him by the throat, practically choking him, and demands the payment of his debt. The fellow servant fell on his knees and pleaded for more time. But the lender, who had just been forgiven of his enormous debt is not moved. He coldly and mercilessly demands, that he be thrown in prison, until he would be able to pay his paltry debt.However, there were third parties nearby, who were witnesses of both scenes. In disgust, they all went and reported, what they had witnessed, to the king. Enraged, the king demands that the forgiven servant be brought before him. When he sees him again, he scornfully says to him: "O you wicked and wretched servant; I forgave your great debt because you pleaded with me; should you have not forgiven your fellow servant, as I forgave you?" 'Because of your ingratitude and callousness, you will be lashed, and severely punished, and you will remain in jail, until you are able to make good on your debt!" It's almost impossible to explain the phenomenon, of how primitive, and how vicious a person can become, by seeking to take revenge upon another. People, who live in the same land, - - - have the same blood running in their veins, - - - respect the same religion, - - - are members of the same societies, - - - and call themselves brothers and sisters, - - - people, who are a part of identical causes, - - - still, it is amazing, that among themselves, they oftentimes harbor grudges and seek vengeance. Oddly, they excuse themselves most always, from any transgression, and never soften their hearts with the power of humility, to forgive their brother or sister. The root, or answer to this deficiency in a person's spiritual make-up, is the lack of spiritual maturity, and surely the lack of Christian love, as taught throughout the Holy Scriptures. A person becomes malicious, - - - harbors grudges and is resentful, simply because, he or she permits egotism to control their life! They have displaced the love, which God implants in our hearts, living only for their miserable self. If Christians systematically submitted themselves to a personal analysis, they surely would not be ready to condemn people, for something, of which they themselves might be guilty, - - - but, they find it convenient to excuse themselves. However, they should bring to mind the Lord's words, Who said: "Judge not, lest ye be Judged!" (Matthew 7:1) Too many Christians have a wrong, if not a distorted opinion, of what it means to be a true Christian. They forget, or, they just do not heed the fact, that the focal point of religion is love, based on forgiveness. This love was manifested by our Lord, all through His earthly Ministry, and indeed, right up to His last moments on the Cross, when he forgave the penitent thief. Ever since then, and for all time, the Lord seeks to approach all humans, and offer His forgiveness. But, how can we be worthy to receive His forgiveness, when we ourselves are so unforgiving? The Orthodox world is practically at the end of the 15 day period dedicated to our Holy Mother, the Ever Virgin Mary. A period accented by Fasting and Prayer, which most assuredly bring a great balance in life. The Church will always remind Her faithful, to live their life with Christ our Lord at the center, so that we may never run the risk of hearing those frightful words of condemnation addressed to the wicked servant: "O you wicked servant, could you not have shown mercy to your brother, or sister, as I have shown mercy to you?" + Fr. George Papadeas
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