Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 27:30-28:7; Psalm 103; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35
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25 years ago our world changed forever when the planes ploughed into the World Trade Centre. We realised the power of hatred and evil in our world. War of some kind seemed inevitable. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq did not bring peace. The international rules based order and just war theory went out the window. We’re still suffering the consequences.
This Sunday is Safeguarding Sunday when we recall the scourge of child sexual abuse which plagued our church as well as other institutions in our society. We pray that every child will be safe and we commit ourselves afresh to whatever is needed to ensure that safety. As church, we continue to ask forgiveness for past wrongs.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells one of the great stories about the kingdom of heaven – a reality so different from the world we know. Peter has asked Jesus how often we should forgive each other. Jesus replies: ‘Not seven times but seventy-seven times’. This seems so unreal in our present situation. Jesus tells the story of a king and his servants. A servant with huge debts seeks forgiveness from his king and pledges to repay the debts. No sooner does the king graciously grant forgiveness than that servant takes a heavy and unforgiving hand to a fellow servant who owes far less. The other onlooking servants have an innate sense of what’s fair and they bring the matter to the attention of the king who then metes out the same treatment to the first servant as that servant meted out to his fellow servant.
This past week, we’ve had politicians and their minders labelling a reputable ex-SAS officer as a traitor and as a maggot. Why? Because he responded to a subpoena and answered questions under oath in legal proceedings in relation to activities which if proved would constitute war crimes committed by a highly decorated soldier. I daresay that in the past such language would not have been used on our airwaves in such a case. I daresay that in the past when called to account, the political actors would have apologised promptly and taken action to remove the defamatory and hurtful remarks from our screens. We have reached the stage that some politicians and their minders think that such reprehensible actions might help them electorally, or at least do them no harm. They think it best to urge the electors to take a chill pill and get over it all. What have we come to? Some of our politicians think that most onlooking servants are no longer much interested in right and wrong, truth and falsity.
At least, Barnaby Joyce apologised when he became aware of the publication of the hurtful remarks under the auspices of his new political party. Andrew Hastie then accepted the apology. Today’s gospel gives us the steps for putting things right. First, an apology; second, the acceptance of the apology; third, a commitment to put things right; fourth, seeking forgiveness; fifth, granting forgiveness; sixth, reconciliation. And when granted forgiveness, we should all have it in our hearts to forgive others when they sincerely seek forgiveness for lesser offences against us.
Our politics is now so polluted that truth and charity count for little. Our public square is now so demeaned that apologising is seen as a sign of weakness and forgiving is seen as the height of naivete. We Christians are called to live a radically different life – committed to forgiveness of each other because we have experienced the forgiveness of our God.
The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Forgive and you will be forgiven. If you don’t forgive, don’t expect forgiveness from your God.
Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, Adjunct Professor of Thomas More Law School at ACU and Adjunct Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, is a former Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA). His latest books include Pope Francis: the Disruptive Pilgrims Guide (ATF Theology, 2025), and Equality, Reconciliation and Social Cohesion: The Inspiration of Sir William Deane (Connor Court, 2026).
