Junior School Reflection | Matthew 18: 21 - 35, 3rd Tuesday of Lent, 2026, Year B
In the Gospel, and indeed throughout the Bible, the theme of forgiveness is a major topic. Sometimes the word reconciliation, to turn back or turn around, is also used in the same way as the word forgiveness. That is what forgiveness is; it’s a turning back towards someone from whom you have turned away.
The topic of forgiveness appears many times in the Bible for two reasons. The first is that there are many stories that talk about relationships that have been broken and need to be fixed. The second reason is that, as human beings today, we can be like those people found in Bible stories and hurt other people’s feelings too. So, for a very long time, since the time of our first parents, Adam and Eve, who are not mentioned in this Gospel, people have said and done some hurtful things that require forgiveness.
This shows us that forgiveness has always been part of human life. Since forgiveness features heavily in the Bible, it tells us there is something important about the message of forgiveness. God knows there is something unique about our human existence. We are social beings. This means we can relate to other people and form friendships that are lasting. When we form these friendships, it has a positive effect on us; it agrees with us, it makes us feel good, and so it is super important for our wellbeing and flourishing as humans. God has created us in a way that, to enjoy life, we live and share it with others in relationship. When we hurt those special relationships we have with others, it impacts how we operate and behave with them in a negative way. You see, life is a positive thing, a gift from God. We’re not made for a negative life experience but a positive one instead. So forgiveness is key to restoring the relationships we have hurt with others — whether with parents, friends, or teachers — back to a positive place, which helps us again to enjoy the life that God wants us to have.
In today’s Gospel, there are two important ideas connected to forgiveness that I want to explain. The first is the number 77. St Peter asked the question: how many times are we meant to forgive someone? He isn’t testing Jesus’ knowledge; Peter knows his own custom, and Jewish tradition teaches that he can forgive the same person three times before the authorities could issue a heavy punishment on that person. St Peter was wondering if Jesus’ message was any different from his tradition. Jesus told Peter that he should forgive someone 77 times. This number represents infinity; we never stop forgiving, in other words, because God will always forgives us every time we say sorry. Jesus is saying we should never stop accepting someone’s apology because, like the person who hurt us, we will make mistakes more than just three times in our own life journey, and God will continue to forgive us if we say sorry.
The second idea is the word gaol. In the parable we heard, the servant was sent to prison by the king because he was unwilling to forgive the debt of his own servant. While a gaol is a physical place, this word for us is a metaphor. What Jesus is saying is that we won’t be sent to a physical jail if we don’t learn to show forgiveness. Instead, we will not enjoy life properly, and that life will feel like a life lived in a gaol cell, which isn’t a positive experience.
There is a part in the Bible where Jesus says he wants you to have joy; in other words, God really wants us to be happy in our hearts and enjoy life. But he also knows when we carry the pain of unforgiveness, he knows we won’t really be happy; we will be less. And that’s when people seek revenge, anger comes in, jealousy, all those ugly things that diminish us.
So the message for us is always show forgiveness. The same person might hurt you more than three times, more than 77 times; just don’t close the door on forgiveness so that your quality of life is not diminished, but instead remains full of the joy, peace, and freedom that God wants you to have. Forgiveness doesn’t just help the other person; it helps free your own heart too.
