Dear friends,
It was brought to my attention in comment to the blog written on August 13, that the interpretation of the parable of the ungrateful servant was anti-biblical.
After studying and meditating on the comments from the reader, I have come to the conclusion that this person is correct in their assertions.
First, allow me to apologize. It was never my intention to propagate these errors. The intention was that we should learn to forgive each other’s faults. And to be true, as humans, we can never forget what has been done to us. We can’t “forget completely”, because it would mean we never learn.
Now, on to the comments from our reader. First, you are right. The Master-king never said to forget. He had forgotten the servant, but when the ungrateful servant mistreated his equal, the Master-king remembered the servant’s sins, got mad, and handed him over “Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt” (Mt 18:34).
Next, the anecdote of St. Claude and St. Margaret Mary.
It was brought to my attention by a trusted source, that this dialogue might have never had taken place. Why? Simply because it breaks the seal of confession. It would also mean that the priest was testing God. Upon further research, official biographers do not recount this anecdote. This seems a “pious”, but highly erroneous story that has been propagated and is causing more error than good.
Why? Because it is true. God doesn’t forget. If He did, then we would be getting rid of purgatory, of hell, and eventually of anything else that we believe brings us towards salvation, namely, the Eucharist, the priesthood, and the Church. We wouldn't even need God at that point.
The whole book of Exodus is about God’s remembrance. He tells the Jewish people to remember how He delivered them out of the land of Egypt, and He even promises His curse, or His blessing upon people’s descendants: “Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery... For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation, but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Ex 20:1-2,5-6)
God remembers the good and the bad. So should we.
The third error you mention is the example of the nagging wife. You are right. It was out of context and unrelated, and is psychologically impossible for any person to totally forget what hurt has been done to them.
What happens when a spouse is addicted to drugs and spends all the couple’s money? Sells their property without letting the other know. Would their spouse forget? If they keep forgetting, they, and the rest of their family will eventually be destroyed by the other person.
When we pray in front of abortion clinics, we witness the suffering of the victims of this crime. We pray for the conversion of the clinic personnel, and for their patients, that they can embrace and protect the life they are trying to extinguish. So, we remember.
We teach our children the horrors, not only of the Nazi party, but also of the communist regimes who slaughtered, and kept slaughtering more people than Nazi Germany ever did. We teach them about racial injustice, so the errors fr the past are not repeated by us, by them. So, we remember.
We remember, and we suffer with Christ.
Thank you again Dr No for bringing my errors to my attention.
God bless you!
Maria Knox.
