How Many Times?

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

For Franciscans of all stripes, today is the Feast of Our Holy Mother St. Clare whom St. Francis of Assisi called his "little plant." The rest of the Church regards this as a memorial. Those of you who are liturgically aware know that the readings for a feast differ from those of a memorial. I will comment on the Gospel reading that most of you would hear today should you go to Mass. That Gospel passage features the famous question that St. Peter puts to Jesus regarding how many times he must forgive someone who sins against him. We all know the answer.

However, I find the question interesting from the perspective of what St. Peter did NOT ask. He did not ask whether he was bound to forgive someone who had sinned against him. He asked, rather, how many times he must forgive. In other words, Peter presumes that he must forgive. He is just not sure how many times he must forgive. It almost sounds a little like that well worn proverb, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you."

The presumption on the necessity of forgiveness stems from the fact that St. Peter realized that he needed to be forgiven from time to time. The Gospels are very clear in characterizing Peter as a man who is sometimes rash, sometimes downright dull. (My mother taught me never to call anyone "stupid.") Of course, we cannot read this Gospel passage without thinking about the famous scene from Chapter 21 of St. John's Gospel as Jesus asks Peter three times whether he loves Him. Even Peter realizes that his three-fold denial of Christ was the low point of his life and occasions this threefold question from Jesus. Peter knew at that point in his life that he did not deserve to be forgiven. However, the difference between Peter's denial and Judas' betrayal is that Peter believed that he would be forgiven whereas Judas simply despaired.

How many times has God forgiven us? I am sure that we have a common experience of realizing that when we approach the Sacrament of Penance, we are talking about the "same old same old." We fall all too often in the same way we have fallen before. If we expect to be forgiven over and over again, we have to realize that we are expected to share the gift with others.