24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A - The Grudges We Hug & “Blest Be The Lord”

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to remember a wrong done to us, and how difficult it can be to let it go? Someone says something hurtful. A friendship falls apart. A family disagreement leaves a scar. Years later, we can still replay the conversation in our heads as if it happened yesterday.

Sirach puts it bluntly: “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.”

Hugs them tight. That’s an interesting image. We don't usually think of ourselves as hugging anger. We think, “I have every right to be angry!” and perhaps we do. However, sometimes we hold the hurt so tightly that the person who hurt us has moved on, yet we're still carrying the weight.

Then Peter asks Jesus the million-dollar question, “How many times must I forgive? Seven times?” 

Jesus essentially says: Peter, stop counting.

Then comes the parable of the unforgiving servant. A man owes his king an enormous, impossible debt. The king forgives the whole thing. Completely. No conditions. No payment plan. Then that same servant encounters someone who owes him a much smaller debt, and he refuses to forgive. Jesus makes the contrast painfully clear: We have been forgiven far more than we will ever be asked to forgive.

That doesn't mean what people have done to us doesn't matter. Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending that something never happened, nor does it mean allowing someone to keep hurting us. Sometimes forgiveness takes time. Sometimes it requires boundaries, healing, or reconciliation.

Forgiveness means refusing to let yesterday's wound become today's prison. Paul reminds us: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.” Our lives belong to Christ. So perhaps the question this weekend isn't simply, “Who has hurt me?” Maybe the better question is “What am I still carrying that Jesus is asking me to put down?”

A grudge can feel like justice. But sometimes it is simply a heavy suitcase we keep insisting on carrying, even though Jesus has already offered to help us set it down.

So this week, think of one person, one hurt, or one old argument you've been carrying. Pray for the grace to release it. You don't have to forget. You don't have to pretend. But perhaps you can finally stop hugging it.

Because forgiveness isn't just a gift we give someone else. It is also a gift God wants to give us: the freedom to move forward.

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In honor of this weekend’s Gospel, we would like to share our latest video.

“Blest Be the Lord” by Dan Schutte is a joyful Catholic hymn based on Psalm 91, proclaiming our confidence in the God of mercy who saves, shelters His people, and frees them from fear.

On this Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus teaches through the parable of the unforgiving servant that those who receive God’s abundant mercy must also forgive others from the heart; together, hymn and Gospel call us to praise the Lord for His saving compassion and allow that mercy to flow through us.

Video can be watched by clicking here or by clicking on the thumbnail below.