Letting Go of Tampuhan

Listening to the Spirit

Lord, thank you for the gift of Your Word so that all Your people may know and love You more and understand You better.

As I go about my day, may I not forget the Scriptures You have opened up for me.

Help me to recognize how You want me to apply Your Word to my daily life. Holy Spirit, guided by Your Word, may You enlighten my mind and enkindle in my heart a greater love for You and for others in my family and in the world.

Amen.

Listening to the Word

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Reflection

Today’s Gospel is like a practical guide for how we live together as Christians. When Jesus speaks about the "Kingdom of Heaven," He is not talking about something far away in the clouds. He is talking about how we treat each other right now—especially the person close to us. The heart of God’s Kingdom is mercy. But as human beings, it is so easy for us to fall into anger, hold grudges (tampuhan), and look for revenge.

When we feel hurt, the first reading from Sirach acts like a clear mirror for our souls. Sirach says that anger is a terrible thing, yet sinners "hug it tight." Think about how true that is! We often hold onto our grudges tightly because we feel we have a right to be angry. But Sirach warns us that keeping bitterness inside only poisons our own hearts and blocks our prayers from reaching God. If we want God to show us mercy and forgive our sins, we must first learn to let go of the anger we hold against our neighbors.

St. Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that we do not live for ourselves alone; we belong to the Lord. When we hold onto a “tampuhan” (resentment), we are taking judgment into our own hands instead of leaving it to God. This brings us to Peter’s famous question to Jesus. Peter thought he was being extra generous by asking if he should forgive someone seven times—since the usual practice back then was only three. But Jesus completely surprises him by saying we should forgive "seventy-seven times." Jesus is telling us to stop counting mercy. In God’s family, forgiveness is not a limited resource to count; it is a way of life.

To help us get the point, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. A king forgives a servant an impossible debt of ten thousand talents—an amount that could never be earned in several lifetimes. This giant debt stands for our sins that God freely wipes away out of His infinite love. But right after walking out free, that same servant grabs a fellow worker by the throat over a tiny debt of a hundred denarii (about three months' wages). He forgets the huge mercy he just received and throws his fellow worker in prison.

When we refuse to forgive someone who hurt us, we act just like that unforgiving servant. The wrongs done to us by others can cause real pain, but compared to the massive debt of sin that God forgives us every single day, those offenses are small. Jesus warns us that we must forgive "from the heart." This does not mean pretending that bad actions are okay or that the pain does not exist. It simply means making a deliberate choice to stop keeping anger in our hearts and handing our desire for revenge over to God’s mercy.

As we go home today, let us examine our lives and put this into practice. What "debt" or small grievance are you holding onto right now? Name that hurt in your heart and offer it up to God in prayer today. Let us ask the Lord to give us patient hearts so we can let go of our anger, heal our “tampuhan,” and share with others the same endless mercy we receive from Him every day.