Homily: Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Sirach 27:30—28:7, Romans 14:7–9, Matthew 18:21–35
13 September 2026
Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA
All of us know what it is like to be hurt by others—be it a physical injury or emotional trauma. Perhaps the most painful thing is that even after the incident is over, the offense continues to live rent-free in our minds. We remember what our transgressors said. We remember what they did. We remember all the details of when it happened. Sometimes, we even remember the words verbatim. And then, years later, believing we have moved on, we are surprised when something reminds us of that person, and suddenly, the anger comes back—as if the incident happened yesterday. The person has moved on. However, we still give them the power to destroy our peace.
That is why today’s First Reading speaks so powerfully about forgiveness. Sirach says, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight” (Sirach 27:30). It is a very accurate image for those who hold on to anger. Yung mga nagtatanim ng galit. (Those who hold grudges.) We fool ourselves into thinking we are holding out for justice or secretly hoping for vengeance. We tell ourselves, “I have every right to be angry.” And perhaps we do. The wound was real. The betrayal was real. The injustice was real. However, we forget that forgiveness does not negate the reality of our pain. It is about letting go and realizing that nothing really escapes God.
We feel that forgiving others can be too much to ask, but Jesus goes even further. In the Gospel, Peter asks, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” And Jesus answers, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21–22). He proposes that true forgiveness does not keep a score of transgressions. It is about wiping the slate clean so we ourselves can be at peace and at the same time giving the person an opportunity to do better and become better. We grant them this mercy because we have received God’s mercy ourselves. Because we relinquish control of our lives to God, we can refuse to let another person’s wrongdoing determine the kind of person we become. This inevitable interconnectedness is highlighted by the parable in our gospel. In Matthew 18:23–35, the servant is forgiven an enormous debt, but he immediately grabs another servant by the throat over a much smaller debt. Jesus gives a stern warning to those who fail to forgive from the heart. This is in reference to those who have received mercy but have not allowed mercy to change them.
Perhaps this is where the Gospel becomes uncomfortable for all of us. We know how to receive mercy. Every time we pray the Our Father, we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses” on the condition that “we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” We have been forgiven so many times by God. We go to confession and confess the same sins and receive absolution every time. We have been given second chances, third chances, tenth chances. We have said things we regret. We have failed people. We have disappointed others. And still, God has not stopped loving us. He forgives us every time we ask for His mercy. But have we allowed His mercy to change us?
This is where the Second Reading becomes important. St. Paul says, “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). Not our wounds. Not our failures. Not the people who hurt us. We belong to the Lord. Maybe that is the real freedom of forgiveness. The person who hurt us may have caused the wound, but we should not allow that person to become the owner of our future. We do not have to carry the anger everywhere we go. We do not have to keep replaying the conversation. We do not have to spend another ten years waiting for an apology that may never come.
Forgiveness is simply saying, “I remember what happened. I will not deny the pain. But I refuse to give this person any power over my life.” In Christ we can see that it does not mean, “What happened to me was okay.” It means, “What happened to me will not have the final word on who I am.”
In the end, forgiveness is not really about setting the other person free, but rather about how God sets us free. The wounds we bear may remain part of our story, but they do not have to be the main character in our story. The person who hurt us is not our owner. For, we are the Lord’s!
Sunday Gospel Reflections 