Lenten Reflection: A Heart Shaped Mercy at JD

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

Peter asks Jesus a question that many of us have probably wondered about: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Peter probably thought he was being generous. Forgiving someone once can be difficult. Forgiving them again and again can feel almost impossible. But Jesus answers in a way that surprises him. “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus is not giving Peter a number to keep track of. He is describing the kind of heart God wants us to have—a heart shaped by mercy.

To explain what he means, Jesus tells a story: A servant owes his king an enormous debt, far more than he could ever repay. When the king calls him to account, the servant falls to his knees and begs for patience. The king responds with compassion and forgives the entire debt.

But when that same servant leaves, he finds another man who owes him a small amount. Instead of showing the mercy he just received, he grabs the man and demands payment. When the man begs for patience, the servant refuses and has him thrown into prison. When the king hears about this, he is deeply disappointed. The servant who received such mercy refused to show it to someone else.

Jesus tells this story to make something very clear: 

Every one of us has received mercy. God forgives us more times than we can count. Parents and teachers give us second chances. Friends overlook our mistakes and give us another opportunity to do better. If we have received mercy, Jesus asks us to show mercy.

At Juan Diego, we spend a lot of time together. We sit in the same classrooms, compete on the same teams, work on projects together, and walk the same hallways every day. When people spend that much time together, misunderstandings happen. Feelings get hurt. Words are sometimes spoken that should not have been.

Forgiveness becomes part of living in community. Sometimes it means letting go of a comment that bothered you. Sometimes it means refusing to pass along gossip. Sometimes it means giving someone another chance. And sometimes it means having the humility to say, “I’m sorry.”

Forgiveness does not mean pretending something didn’t hurt. It means choosing not to let anger take control of your heart. Lent invites us to look honestly at our lives and ask where we need to grow. For many of us, that growth begins with mercy. If Christ forgives us again and again, we are called to forgive others the same way. And when we do, something powerful happens. Mercy spreads. Friendships heal. And the spirit of Christ becomes visible—even in the ordinary moments of a school day.