Fr. Yamil A. Samalot Rivera, OP

In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges his disciple to forgive one another not seven times, but 77 times. This absurd number mirrors God's absurd love for us in giving his son for our salvation, and in St. Maximillian Kolbe's absurd love that led him to offer himself for death in place of another. Father Yamil draws a powerful parallel between the Gospel's call to forgive abundantly and the saint's extraordinary act of love toward his executioners and fellow prisoners.

In today's very short Gospel, Mt 18:15-20, Jesus tells his disciples about the power of community—how to correct one another, how whenever two or more are gather in his name, he is there, and about their ability to forgive sins. May our experience of communion in community live up to this potential!

In our Gospel today, Jesus rebukes the towns in which he has worked miracles who still did not recognise him. Do we recognise God in our own midst, especially in the poor and suffering?

As we celebrate the memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native American saint, we remember how she left her family in order to become a Christian and to follow Christ more closely. May we share her zeal for the faith and avail ourselves of Jesus' promise that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.

Christians believe in the Trinity, One God in three persons, united by an eternal dialog of love. This Trinitarian love should lead us to live out our faith in a synodal church, listening to one another, respecting the input of each, and thus building up our unity that respects diversity.

Jesus tells us not to swear by God, but to let our "yes" mean "yes" and our "no" mean "no." Perhaps this is not an injunction against oath-taking, which is an integral part of our modern world, but an injunction to be completely sincere in our words, so that our words and our life make a sincere and total "yes" to God.