Daily Reflection Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

Jesus' lessons in forgiveness stretch our capacity for compassion. The parable of the Prodigal Son is one example. We remember how the ungrateful and unworthy son returns home and is welcomed with honors. The Lord's forgiveness goes beyond any sense of fairness. Instead he looks toward reconciliation and how those who are divided will become united again. Today we are told that if someone wrongs you seven times, and asks for forgiveness seven times, you must be ready to forgive. The Lord looks to develop within us a disposition for forgiveness. Rather than resorting to retaliation, we must strive towards reconciliation. However, forgiving someone seven times seems exorbitant. Would we be guilty of enabling someone’s bad behavior?

The number seven would have been significant for Jesus' audience. They would have remembered the story of “Lamech's revenge” (Genesis 4:23-24). Lamech was a descendant of Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve. When Cain was banished after killing his brother, Abel, God promised that if anyone harmed him he would be avenged sevenfold. Several generations later, Lamech boasted, "I killed a man for wounding me, a boy for striking me. Sevenfold vengeance is taken for Cain, but seventy-seven fold for Lamech." Cain's sin had metastasized through his descendants, resulting in an increase of vengeance and violence.

Jesus prescribes forgiveness in order to ward off revenge and to foster reconciliation.