In today’s Gospel, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” Peter suggests seven times, but Jesus responds, “Not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

Jesus is not asking us to keep count. He is reminding us that forgiveness is not something we offer only when it is convenient or deserved. Forgiveness is a way of living.

A few summers ago, my family had a big reunion. It included my parents, my four siblings, and all their many children. One of my favorite moments was simply watching my parents’ contented faces as they took in all of us together, laughing, sharing food, singing, telling stories. They loved seeing their children happily together with each other.

Do you know what it is like to be thrilled by the power of Christian faith one moment and then utterly fail in it the next? I do. That is Peter in today’s Gospel. After last week’s bold confession, he now hears Jesus speak of suffering and death, and something in him recoils. He takes Jesus aside and tries to correct him. Jesus responds with the shocking rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan.”

The first time I stood inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, its majesty overwhelmed me. The sheer beauty of Michelangelo’s dome seemed to lift my soul right out of my body.

Later, I joined the Scavi tour that winds below the basilica, down into the ancient pagan cemetery where Peter was buried. There, in the dim light and narrow passageways, I found myself looking at the bones of a murdered Jewish fisherman, his feet cut off so his crucified body could be taken down more easily.

This summer, let us: “Stay prayed up!” With this welcomed season of summer vacations, we need to remind ourselves, as we break from our work schedules and routines, that, although, it is a time for rest and relaxation, it is not a time for us to take a vacation - a break - from attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist, nor putting off our daily prayers, especially, the Rosary.

As a young, newly ordained priest, I admired a senior priest who was gifted, beloved, and had changed countless lives. But soon I learned that he had fallen in catastrophic and destructive ways. The painful juxtaposition of good and evil was complex to process. How could someone so seemingly good also be so broken and deceptive? It forced me to confront a sobering truth: leadership in the Church is no guarantee against weakness or sin.

According to the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, Solomon was only 14 years old when he became the king of Israel. In today’s First Reading, Solomon assents to this fact calling himself “a mere youth.” He admitted that he did not know at all how to act. He humbly acknowledged his inefficiency and inexperience repeating what the great leaders of Israel like Moses (cf. Numbers 27:17) and David (cf. 1 Samuel 5:2) did.

Matthew 13:24-43
A man recently told me he was losing patience with the Church. “It’s supposed to be God’s Kingdom on earth,” he said, “but it’s full of contradictions and hypocrisy. Why can’t the Church just be better?” That last word landed with a judgmental thud. It hurt. Because at times the Church can look painfully ordinary, even disappointing.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings of joy and peace to you and your families,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”