It would seem that it was by quickly forgetting the great debt he had been forgiven, that the wicked servant (in today’s gospel) had no qualms about refusing a similar mercy to his fellow servant. Yet, perhaps it wasn’t forgetfulness at all, but remembering too well! For, by using the very words he had used, the fellow servant reminded him of the gross humiliation he experienced in needing to beg for mercy from his master. The proud heart, of course, disdains mercy and only seeks it to avoid punishment. How different this is from the truly humble heart, which finds that mercy does not humiliate, but actually raises up fallen sinners and sets them on high. Good reason to avoid pride and that self-sufficiency that only reluctantly seeks mercy so as to escape punishment. Instead, with humble and trusting hearts let us seek that mercy that, through compunction, pierces our sinful hearts, and opens them to forgiveness and, in healing them, raises them up in joy and rejoicing.
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