24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Clint Eastwood’s 1992 movie “The Unforgiven” tells the story of a former gunslinger who is trying to reform his life. He marries, quits drinking and begins to raise a family. But his wife dies, and he is not very good at farming. He feels unforgiven as the ghosts from his quick-draw past haunt him. Unable to resist the lure of a $500 bounty, he returns to his former ways and rides off on a final mission.
Today’s Gospel story is about the forgiven. Even though we may have done bad things in the past, God forgives us. He gives us a new beginning. Armed with the prayer Jesus taught us, we can start over: God expects us to be forgiving, too, and really mean it when we say, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”