We had had a little disagreement on Sunday evening, and while we did smooth things out before we went to sleep that night, the next morning I made a little mistake.
Then Michael was hurting, but I hadn't any clue that he was. In fact, I thought that he would be feeling better because of what I had written. My intention and the way it was received were two polar opposites.
When I finally discovered that we had tragically fallen into gross miscommunication and that I had inadvertently hurt him, I asked for forgiveness. And he asked for forgiveness from me.
That night, before bed, he told me on the phone that he had found a few verses from Scripture to read to me about forgiveness. And so he read a story to me from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 18.
Incredibly, the very next day at daily mass, that exact reading was the Gospel. What are the chances?! Michael sat in mass (during his lunch break) with complete awe.
Here is the reading:
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion, the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
Yes, dear reader, this was yesterday's daily mass Gospel reading, and that date was March 29th, which--as it is turning out--seems to be the annual anniversary of a LOT of signal graces for me (at least beginning two years ago when I finally began to take notice).
Thank you, Jesus, for this special signal grace!
