Today’s Gospel begins with a question from Peter that many of us have also asked in our hearts: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Peter probably thought he was being generous. Seven times seemed like a lot. Perhaps he expected Jesus to say, “Yes, Peter, seven times is more than enough.”

But Jesus answers: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus is not giving Peter a mathematical calculation. He is teaching us that forgiveness has no limits. 

This is the heart of the Gospel. 

Each of us stands before God as a sinner who begs for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Thus, we are called to forgive because we have first been forgiven and have received more mercy from God than we could ever repay.

Think about how often God has forgiven us. How many times have we promised to change and then fallen again? How many times have we neglected to pray, spoken harshly, judged another person, acted selfishly, or chosen our own way instead of God’s way?

Today’s Gospel reminds us that the Christian life is one of receiving and giving mercy. We come to God with empty hands, and He fills them with mercy. He then sends us into the world to share that mercy with others. 

The measure of God’s forgiveness is neither seven times nor seventy-seven times. It is the immeasurable mercy of a God who never stops calling His children home.

Therefore, let us pray for the grace to remember how much we have been forgiven. May that remembrance give us the courage to forgive others.

Fr. Huy

(For the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2026)