the crucified orator 690 a huge and difficult debt to repay! Since the axiom accepted by the experts in law was that whoever cannot pay back must suffer in the body, the king ordered this great debtor to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, and to place the money thus obtained in his treasury. That servant would have been miserable, had he not by his truly humble supplication softened the heart of the king, who was by nature very much inclined to clemency. Falling on his knees at the feet of the master, the servant implored him with this excellent formula of humble pleading: “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.” And thus he escaped: “The master had mercy on that servant, released him, and forgave his debt.” This was a great grace, but did it find a grateful heart? This was an extraordinary clemency, if only it had not been granted to a cruel and most wicked man! For this nefarious rascal had hardly left the sight of the king, when he came across “one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii [denarius — a small silver coin],” seized him right away, “and started to choke him,” repeating time and again: “Give back what you owe.” Pay back one hundred denarii, pay it back! This great cruelty reverberated throughout the entire king’s court. Therefore, after the king had called back the good-for-nothing exactor of debts, he was thrown into prison to suffer “until” he himself “repaid his debt,” and fully redeemed [his obligation]. To whom does this parable apply? [It applies] to Christian sinners who contracted heavy debts before the Heavenly King, but who do not want to forgive the slightest debt of their neighbors. Hence, flows Christ’s horrifying admonition: “So will my heavenly Father do to you,” just as that king did to the wicked servant, “unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart” (cf. Mt 18:23-35). Isidoro Chiari,9 an exceptionally eloquent interpreter of the Sacred Scriptures, thus elucidates the parable of our Lord Jesus, saying: “Such is the law of the Heavenly Father: Wanting to have opportunities for forgiveness, He allows offenses to occur among men that all might have debtors, whom they must forgive, and 9 Cf. Penna, Angelo, Clario, Isidoro, in: Ecat III, 1771.
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