The Call to Mercy
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Sunday, September 13, 2026The Call to Mercy24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Peter asks Jesus a question that many of us have probably wondered ourselves: “How often must I forgive?” Surely there must be a limit.
Jesus answers with a parable about a servant who owes an enormous debt he could never repay. Rather than giving him more time, the king does something unexpected: he forgives the debt completely.
Jesus begins not with what we are expected to give, but with what we have already received.
All of us live by the mercy of God. We sin and fall short. We hurt others and need forgiveness. Yet God continues to meet us with patience, compassion, and mercy. His mercy gives us the freedom to begin again.
The tragedy of the parable is that the servant receives this extraordinary mercy but does not allow it to change the way he treats someone else.
That is where the Gospel touches our lives. What we receive from God is meant to shape the way we treat one another.
Forgiveness is not always easy, especially when wounds run deep. It does not mean pretending that nothing happened. But Christ does not want resentment to have the final word in our hearts.
Perhaps this week there is someone we need to treat with greater patience, understanding, or mercy. We may not be able to change everything at once, but we can ask Christ to change our hearts.
The mercy we give begins with the mercy we have received.
Fr. Paul