Newsletter September 13th 2026 / 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Math’s of Mercy

How many times do we have to forgive someone? It’s a question as old as the Gospels. When Peter generously suggests forgiving his

brother seven times—thinking surely he is being a saint of a neighbour – Jesus blows the ceiling off our human arithmetic: “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.”

· In other words, mercy isn’t a scorecard. It isn’t a ledger where we tick off the offenses and eventually slam the book shut.

· In this Sunday’s readings, we are confronted with the radical, sometimes uncomfortable truth of God’s forgiveness. The book of Sirach reminds us bluntly: “Forgive your neighbour’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” It’s a package deal. St. Paul echoes this to the Romans, reminding us that “none of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.” We belong to each other because we all first belong to Christ, who claimed us not with a demand for justice, but with the gift of mercy.

· Yet, we all know how hard this is. The parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew’s Gospel hits entirely too close to home. How quickly we forget the mountain of mercy God has forgiven us, only to turn around and choke our brother over a few pennies.

As we journey through Ordinary Time, let us remember that living an “ordinary” life in Christ is actually an extraordinary call to love without

conditions. This week, let’s look at the quiet grudges we might be holding—the slights we’ve catalogued, the apologies we are waiting to receive. What would it look like to throw away the ledger?

May we look upon one another with the same staggering, patient grace that God first poured out on us.