21 Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
1 When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. (Matt 18:21-19:1)
TELENOVELAS
Telenovelas, or the other genres that fall within the category or a related to them, like Koreanovelas, soap operas, fantaserye, have become part of the Filipino culture for many decades now. One of the reasons is because we are sentimental in nature. We empathize; we root for the underdog. It may be so because we have suffered a lot as a people and we continue to suffer and struggle. That is why we find meaning in the victory of people whom we call underdogs. Even in sports, we normally root for the underdog. As a people we are merciful.
We have a lot of adages and quotes that pertain to mercy: “Parang awa mo na!” (“Have mercy!”). We have the proverb “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa” (“Mercy belongs to God; action belongs to man”). If you happen to go to the barrios, even to the remotest ones, people always append to their statements “… sa awa ng Diyos” (“in God’s mercy”).
Perhaps these things do appear in our speech because that is the experience of God that we have: that he is merciful. When I was a grade six student, I saw a poster at the door of our rector. It was entitled “If God should go on strike.” I looked at the verses that followed and they were consequences of what would happen if God did go on stike: he would not allow the sun to rise, he would cut of the food supply, he would slowly turn off the oxygen supply, and so on. But in the end it said that God would not go on strike because he loves us.
Our life is more than a telenovela. There is God who is always with us—abounding in mercy. Someone who is real, someone who is true. As in the Gospel, we forgive because God is forgiving.
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. When was the last time I needed mercy? Did I receive mercy from other people?
2. Do I see God as a merciful God? Do I seek to receive his forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation?
Lord, have mercy.
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