Iron & Altar

"Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?" - Matthew 18:33

The wicked servant had ten thousand talents forgiven. The fellow servant owed him a hundred denarii. Jesus made the contrast so absurd on purpose - the numbers are designed to make the servant's behavior incoherent, not just wrong. He received a cancellation so large it could not be measured, walked out the door, and went to collect something so small it barely registered. He forgot. Immediately.

Ezekiel is given a preaching assignment most men would refuse: don't speak. Act. Pack your bags, dig through the wall, leave in darkness while they watch. Because the people have heard the word so many times they can no longer hear it. What might reach them is the embodied demonstration.

Brother, what debt has been forgiven you - in your marriage, your family, your faith - that you are currently collecting from someone else? Not in the abstract. The specific thing. The specific person you are choking over what they owe.

Name the debt you are holding. Name what has been forgiven you. Hold them side by side. Then open your hand.

Name the person you have been hardest on this week. Name the specific grievance. Then name one thing that has been forgiven you that is larger. Say them both out loud to yourself. Then tell another man which one you are working on releasing - and ask him to ask you about it next week. The man who carries his unforgiveness alone is more likely to keep carrying it.

Lord, you forgave my entire debt. Let me not walk out the door and choke the person beside me over what they owe me. Give me the memory of mercy. Let what has been done for me become what I do for others. From my heart, not just from my mouth. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Amen.