Lenten Homily, 10 March 2026
In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the two debtors: a servant who owes an enormous debt is forgiven everything by his master, but then that same servant goes out and refuses to forgive a fellow servant who owes him a much smaller amount (Matthew 18:23–35). The point is striking: someone who has received mercy refuses to pass mercy on.
It’s interesting to think about these two people and how they were forgiven. Why didn’t the guy—who had just been forgiven so much—naturally want to forgive another person?
In theory, it seems like it would be obvious: if you’ve been forgiven, you forgive. And yet I don’t know about you, but at least for me, it often doesn’t work that way. Something happens, and theoretically we think, “Of course I can forgive.” But inside it’s more like: “How is that person like that?” Or, “They did it again.” Or, “They’re not paying attention.” Or, “They don’t care.”
Our natural tendency can be to judge, or to demand justice from the other person. And justice isn’t a bad thing. What I’m trying to say is: this person isn’t necessarily being evil. He’s definitely not being merciful, but he’s not evil. He’s demanding justice.
So what changes when we go beyond justice and ask for mercy? Why was this guy not able to do that?
There could be a lot of reasons. But at least in my life, I’ve noticed that when we’re truly thankful—when we have a concrete experience present in us—then it becomes easy to transmit it, to give it, to share it. And when we don’t, it becomes harder.
Why Is It Hard to Live What We Believe?
This is obvious on one level: yes, we need to be merciful. Of course. But then the real question is: why is it hard for me to be merciful? We need to be patient—why is it hard for me to be patient? We need to be… you name it. And probably because our experience of that grace isn’t always as present or as strong as we think.
So especially in the Lenten season, yes—we need to repent. We need to convert. We need to be merciful. But what is our own experience of God’s mercy, God’s love, and all these different things that we’re being called to share?
Maybe in Lent it’s worth asking the Lord: how have you already forgiven me, and what does that feel like?
How Do I Imagine God Treating Me?
It’s a little like what Father Klaus talked about—the different ways we relate to God. Sometimes we picture God as the one “up there” going, “I can’t believe you did that… but just this time,” or, “You need to do better next time.” We carry all these assumptions about what mercy actually looks like.
And I think sometimes we imagine God as the one who says: “As soon as you pay your debt, then you’re fine.” So we end up seeing God’s mercy as something more like this guy who sends you to jail.
It’s like: “Well, you can go to confession when you finally have all your stuff in order.” Or: “You can feel good about yourself and your situation when you finally stop sinning.”
But in reality it’s more like: wait a second—where is God in the middle of our sin? Where is God in the middle of our mess? Because the truth is, there’s no way we can get into heaven on our own anyway. So the question becomes: where is God in all of this, and how is he loving us?
And if he does love us—and we experience it—then we can share that with others.
Where Do I Need God to Love Me?
So let’s be specific: where do I need God to love me in my own life?
Is it in not being satisfied with myself? Is it in actually forgiving myself for past sins? Is it in being okay with a situation I don’t really like?
Where are those moments when I’m not satisfied—with myself, with the situation, or even with God—and where God is actually more merciful than I am?
Because I don’t know about you, but when I think about my situation, God is probably pretty happy. So why am I so stressed? Often, we’re very demanding—not usually in bad ways. We have expectations, and those expectations have reasons, but they’re not necessarily God’s expectations.
So let’s ask the Lord: what are your expectations for me right now—for me at this Mass, for my MPD, for my schedule, for my community, for whatever it is?
Mercy That Actually Cares
You can experience God’s mercy. And God’s mercy isn’t that he doesn’t care. It’s not that if you have a problem, he doesn’t care. He does care—it’s just the way he cares. It’s much more loving than we are.
So let’s ask God how he cares about our difficulties and our situations: how he wants to improve them, how he loves us. And let’s ask him for the grace to love ourselves—and others—in the same way.