Children's Liturgy Series: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us that if we want God to forgive us our wrongdoings, then we must forgive others for their wrongdoings against us as well. Just as God's forgiveness is limitless, so must our forgiveness to others be limitless.

Father in Heaven, we praise and glorify you.  You are so good and merciful towards us.  Help us to follow your example and be merciful to others. Send us the Holy Spirit and help us internalize the message you have for us today.  We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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."

Say: In our everyday life there are many occasions in which we seek someone's forgiveness or find that another person is seeking our forgiveness. Think back over the past week or so and recall some of these occasions. This exercise is for your eyes only. On the scraps of paper that you have, answer these questions by rating yourself on a scale of one to five: (1) How quickly do you forgive? 1 if you are quick to forgive; 5 if you need time to work through an offense before you forgive. (2) How easily do you make apologies and seek the forgiveness of others? 1 if you make apologies easily and quickly; 5 if you take time before you can seek forgiveness from others.


Say: Each of us handles such situations differently. We may handle situations differently depending on the situation that requires forgiveness. In today's Gospel, Peter asks Jesus how many times one ought to forgive another person. 

Ask: How many times does Jesus say one ought to forgive another person? (not seven but 77 times; a huge number of times)

Say: Jesus puts a number on his answer to Peter, but that is only to make a point. The parable isn't about the quantity of times to forgive, the parable teaches about the quality of forgiveness and how one ought to behave once God has forgiven you. Ask: What does the servant do that makes the king angry? (He refuses to forgive his fellow servant the debt that he owes.) Because we have all received God's forgiveness, God expects that we will also be forgiving toward others. Jesus' answer to Peter's question is found at the end of the parable. The number of times that we forgive another is less important than the depth of our forgiveness. We must forgive one another from the heart.

Characters:
Emma
Liam

Setting:
A colorful playroom with two small chairs.

Scene 1: The Falling Out

Emma and Liam are sitting on opposite sides of the room, looking upset.
Emma: (crossing her arms) I don't want to play with you anymore, Liam!
Liam: (sadly) Fine, I don't want to play with you either, Emma!


Scene 2: The Talk
Emma: (approaching Liam) Liam, why did we stop being friends?
Liam: (looking at Emma) I don't know, Emma. Maybe we can talk about what happened.
Emma and Liam sit down together.
Emma: (sharing her feelings) I was upset because you stole and ate my lunch time treat that I was saving for the end of the day.

Scene 3: The Apology

Liam: (apologizing) I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean to make you upset. I was so hungry and I wasn't thinking.
Emma: (understanding) I wish you had asked. I would have shared it with you. Next time, let's share nicely.
Liam: (nodding) Yes, let's share.

Scene 4: The happy ending

Emma: (hugging Liam) I'm sorry for being mad, Liam.
Liam: (hugging Emma) I'm sorry too, Emma. Let's be friends again.

And so, Emma and Liam became best friends once more, knowing that it's okay to make mistakes as long as you forgive and learn from them. Emma and Liam happily hold hands and exit the stage together.

Father in Heaven we thank you for the lesson today. Please bless each one of us in this room. Please help us to remember to seek your help in prayer when we are trying to to forgive someone but are still feeling angry and upset. We trust in your guidance and your ability to grant us peace in our hearts so we can forgive them and feel happy again. Amen.