When Peter went to Jesus and asked, “How many times must I forgive my brother?”, he was, from a human perspective, being quite generous. “is it Seven times?” he asked Probably thinking that was more than enough. But Jesus surprised him with His response: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

In other words, always.

In the Bible, the number seven symbolizes completeness or perfection. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. That pattern of seven, God’s stamp of completeness, appears again and again throughout Scripture. So when Jesus speaks of “seventy-seven times,” He’s not giving us a number to count. He’s calling us to forgive without limit, as God does.

Forgiveness, then, isn’t about how many times we can manage to do it. It’s not just a task we tick off a list. Forgiveness is a grace, a gift, from God.

Let’s be honest: to forgive someone who has wronged you, hurt you, or spoken badly about you is incredibly difficult. Maybe, with a lot of effort, we can find the strength to forgive once or twice. But to keep doing it, over and over? That is humanly impossible.

Here’s a small, everyday example: imagine a wife who asks her husband to fix the towel rail in the bathroom. He says, “Sure, I’ll do it tomorrow.” She understands, maybe he’s tired and she waits. A week passes, she asks again. “Sorry, I’m busy now, but I’ll get to it tomorrow,” he says. She thinks, “If I said that about his dinner…?” But she’s kind and patient, so she gives him the benefit of the doubt.

Then another week goes by. Still nothing. At this point, it’s easy to feel annoyed, taken for granted, even disrespected. It’s a small thing, but small things can grow. Human patience runs out. So does human forgiveness.

But we are not called to forgive just as humans. We are called to forgive like Jesus.

Jesus was completely innocent. He did no wrong. And yet, He accepted the punishment and death of a criminal. Even as He hung on the cross, He prayed for those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

This is how God loves us. He sent His only Son to make forgiveness possible, to make love possible. And when we forgive others, especially when it’s hard, we become living signs of that same love.

In the early Church, this was so powerful that people who lived near Christian communities would say, “Look how they love one another!” Forgiveness, love, and service were visible signs  and they drew people in. Many came to believe in Jesus because of what they saw lived out in the community.

That kind of Church, a community of forgiveness, love, and service, is needed just as much today. And the good news is: Jesus gives His Spirit freely to His Church, empowering us to be that sign again.

As Christians, this is our call, to love and serve the other. And so today, I invite you to be part of this work of forgiveness and service here in your Family, parish. The world needs it. The Church needs it. And with the grace of God, we can live it.