Gospel: Luke 17:1-6

Today the Gospel gives us three different words of Jesus. One on how to avoid causing scandal or scandalizing the little ones, the other one on the importance of pardon and a third one on faith in God.

 

To cause scandal means to be the cause of their drawing away from God and to make them lose their faith in God. Because of our way of living faith, we Christians throughout the centuries have been the cause of why the little ones have many times drawn away from the Church and have gone towards other religions. They have not been able any longer to believe, as the Apostle said in the Letter to the Romans quoting Isaiah: “In fact, it is your fault that the name of God is held in contempt among the nations.”

 

Second word is forgive your brother. Forgiveness and reconciliation are some of the themes on which Jesus insists the most. The grace to be able to forgive persons and to reconcile them among themselves and with God was granted to Peter, to the Apostles, and to the community. The parable on the need to forgive our neighbor leaves no doubt: if we do not forgive our brothers we cannot receive pardon from God, even if there is no proportion between the pardon that we receive from God and the pardon that we have to offer to our neighbor. 

 

Third word is “Increase our faith”. In this context in Luke, the question of the apostles seems to be motivated by the order of Jesus to forgive. It is not easy to forgive. It is only with great faith in God that it is possible to reach the point of having such a great love that it makes it possible for us to forgive, in one day, up to seventy times seven the brother who sins against us.