March 10, 2026
Tuesday of the Third Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 238
Reading
1
Azariah stood up
in the fire and prayed aloud:
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,
Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,
To whom you promised to multiply their offspring
like the stars of heaven,
or the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins.
We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,
no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.
But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
R. (6a) Remember
your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Even now, says the
LORD,
return to me with your whole heart;
for I am gracious and merciful.
Gospel
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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031026.cfm
Commentary on Daniel
3:25,34-43
As described in the Vatican II Sunday Missal,
today’s reading from Daniel is:
“…one of the most beautiful and sincere prayers in the
Bible. Expressing the abandonment of 2nd century BC Judaism, this prayer pleads
that the contrite heart and humble spirit of the people be accepted by God.
This prayer is quoted in the offertory of every Mass.”
The context of the passage is a famous scene from the Book
of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar had set up a huge golden statue in Babylon. All
the officials were then summoned together for its dedication. At the sound of
many musical instruments, all were called to prostrate themselves in worship of
the statue. Anyone who refused would immediately be thrown into a mighty
furnace.
It was reported to the king that some of his officials who
were Jews had ignored his command. These were Shadrach, Meschach and Azariah
(the Hebrew name for Abednego). They were immediately summoned before the king
and asked to account for themselves. When asked why they had not prostrated
themselves before the statue, they said:
O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to
you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But
if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we
will not worship the golden statue that you have set up. (Dan 3:16-18)
This reply enraged the king to such an extent that he
ordered the furnace to be made seven times hotter. The three men were then
thrown fully clothed into the furnace. It was so hot that the men throwing the
three young men into the furnace were themselves burnt to death.
However, the three men were seen walking in the flames and
they began praying aloud. Today’s passage is a part of their long prayer, led
by Azariah, (see Dan 3:24-90*) of praise and
thanksgiving, while the king’s servants continued to stoke the fire.
The king watched in amazement and said:
Was it not three men that we threw bound into the
fire?…But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they
are not hurt… (Dan 3:92-93)
Clearly, the fourth figure was an angel of the Lord sent to
protect these faithful servants of Yahweh. The king finally ordered the men to
be taken from the fire—their clothes not even singed—and had the highest
honours showered on them as a tribute to their God:
Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. (Dan
3:95)
It is in this context that we read today’s passage.
Azariah’s prayer begins with a plea for God not to abandon his people, nor to
forget the covenant he promised so many descendants of Abraham. In faraway
Babylon, separated by hundreds of miles from their religious centre in
Jerusalem, there is a recognition that they are despised, abandoned and
leaderless, and without their traditional religious rituals of worship:
…we have no ruler, or prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense,
no place to make an offering before you and to find mercy.
However, they pray that, even without holocausts of rams and
bullocks, they can commit themselves completely to their God:
And now with all our heart we follow you;
we fear you and seek your presence.
They beg to be treated with mercy and gentleness. They at
least hope that a truly repentant heart will win God’s forgiveness, and they
put themselves totally at the feet of God’s mercy and compassion.
In fact, it is not necessary to do things ‘to win God’s
favour’. Once we put ourselves completely in his hands, he will take care of us
as he did with the three young men.
______________________________________________________
*Note: These verses from the Song of the Three Men in the
Fiery Furnace are found only in the Greek text of the Old Testament, not the
Hebrew text. Hence, they are not quoted in most non-Catholic Bibles. Although
we only have the Greek text, it is believed that the original was in Aramaic or
Hebrew, and hence is included in Catholic Bibles.
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Commentary on
Matthew 18:21-35
This passage makes a crucial link between God’s forgiving
us, and our forgiving others. Peter asks how many times he should forgive
another, and offers what he regards as a very generous seven times. Jesus
multiplies that by eleven. In other words, our readiness to forgive should be
without limit.
The reason is because that is the way God himself acts
towards us. Suppose we only had seven chances of being forgiven our sins in our
lifetime, and suppose we were to confess our sins to a priest and were told:
“Sorry, you have used up your quota.” Don’t we believe that every single time
we genuinely repent, we can renew our relationship with God?
Jesus is simply telling us that, if we are to be his
followers, we must act on the same basis with other people. To make his
teaching clear, he tells the parable of the two servants. The one with the huge
debt is forgiven by the king. He then proceeds to throttle another servant who
owes what is, by comparison, a paltry amount.
As indicated in the parable, there is no real proportion
between the offence of our sins against an all-holy God, and those made against
us by others. And every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we commit ourselves to
this:
Forgive us our sins just as we forgive
those who sin against us.
It is indeed a courageous prayer to make. Do we really mean
what we say? Do we even think about it when we pray it?
This teaching does not mean turning a blind eye to a person
who keeps on doing harm to us. Forgiveness is more than just saying words; it
involves an attempt at the restoring of a broken relationship. It involves
working for the healing of both sides. With some offences against us, it may be
necessary to make a proactive, but totally non-violent response. Our main
concern should not be ourselves, but the well-being of the other person whose
actions are really self-harmful.
Finally, while forgiveness is a unilateral act,
reconciliation is not. Reconciliation is only possible if the two parties are
able to come together and do whatever they must to restore the
relationship—either offering and/or seeking forgiveness. And while it is
certainly difficult for me to forgive when the other party remains totally
unrepentant, I can do so with God’s help, even though I may not be reconciled
with the other person.
God’s absolute willingness to forgive, no matter how many
times we have injured him by our sins, may not be comprehensible to the person
who has offended and is unrepentant. (Remember the Prodigal Son, whose healing
only began when he came to his senses and returned to his Father to ask
forgiveness.) God always wants us to work on bringing about a healing of the
wound of division between both sides in conflict. Only when both parties do
their part, then, is reconciliation possible and forgiveness complete, and that
may take a long time.
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Tuesday,
March 10, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord God,
You want us to live our faith not so much as
a set of rules and practices but as a relationship from person to person with
You and with people. Keep our hearts turned to You, that we may live what we
believe and that we may express our love for You in terms of service to those
around us, as Jesus did, Your Son, who lives with You and the Holy Spirit
forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 18: 21-35
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."
Reflection
Today’s Gospel speaks to us about the need
for pardon. It is not easy to forgive, because certain grief and pain continue
to burn in the heart. There are people who say, “I forgive, but I do not
forget!” Rancor, tensions, diverse opinions, insults, offenses, provocations,
all renders pardon and reconciliation difficult. Let us try to meditate on the
words of Jesus which speak about reconciliation (Mt 18: 21-22) and which speak
to us about the parable of pardon without limits (Mt 18: 23-35).
•
Matthew 18: 21-22: To forgive seventy-seven
times! Jesus had spoken of the importance of pardon and of the need of knowing
how to accept the brothers and sisters to help them to reconcile with the
community (Mt 18: 15-20) Prior to these words of Jesus, Peter asks, “How often
should I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?” Number
seven indicates perfection. In this case, it was synonymous with always. Jesus
goes far beyond Peter’s proposal. He eliminates any possibility of limitation
to pardon: “Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!” That is, seventy
times always! There is no proportion between the pardon which we receive from
God and the pardon which we should offer to our brother or sister, as the
parable of pardon without limit teaches us.
The expression
seventy-seven times was a clear reference to the words of Lamech who said, “I
killed a man for wounding me, a boy for striking me.
Seven-fold vengeance for Cain but seventy-seven fold for
Lamech” (Gen 4: 2324). Jesus wants to invert the spiral of violence which
entered the world because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, because of the
killing of Abel by Cain and for the vengeance of Lamech. When uncontrolled
violence invades life, everything goes wrong, and life disintegrates.
•
Matthew 18: 23-35: The parable of pardon without
limits. The denarii was the coin in daily use at the time. 1 talent equaled
3,000 shekel or 6,000 denarii. Thus, the debt of ten thousand talents was
approximately 60,000,000 denarii! There is no comparison between the two! Even
if the debtor together with his wife and children set to work their whole life,
they would never be capable of earning this much. Before God’s love, which
forgives gratuitously our debt of 60 million, it is more than just on our part
to forgive gratuitously the debt of a single coin, seventy times always! The
only limit to the gratuity of pardon of God is our incapacity to forgive our
brother! (Mt 18: 33-34; 6: 15)
The community, an alternative place of solidarity and
fraternity: the society of the Roman Empire was hard and without a heart,
without any room for the little ones. They sought refuge for the heart and did
not find it. The synagogue was also demanding and did not offer them any place.
And in the Christian communities, the rigor of some in the observance of the
Law made life together difficult because they used the same criteria as the
synagogue. Besides this, toward the end of the first century, in the Christian
communities, the same divisions which existed in society between rich and poor
began to appear (Jas 2: 1-9). Instead of making the community a place of
acceptance, they ran the risk of becoming a place of condemnation and conflict.
Matthew wants to enlighten the communities, so that these may be an alternative
space of solidarity and of fraternity. They should be Good News for the poor.
Personal Questions
•
Why is it so difficult to forgive?
•
How do we accomplish reconciliation in our
community?
•
What is the best way to approach forgiveness and
forgetting while still protecting the vulnerable in our care or in our
community?
Concluding Prayer
Direct me in Your ways,
Yahweh, and teach me
Your paths.
Encourage me to walk in Your truth and teach me, since You are the God who saves me. For my
hope is in You all day long. (Ps 25:4-5)
