There is a story about a man who was rushed to the hospital after a terrible accident. Sadly, the man died.

The hospital discovered that he had been living alone in a small, run-down apartment. He was poor, had no permanent job, and apparently had very few possessions. Eventually, the hospital located a relative who came to claim his body and take care of his belongings.

When the relative went to the apartment, there was not much to collect. But while going through the man’s possessions, he noticed a painting hanging on the kitchen wall. It was simple but beautiful. There was something unusual about it.

Out of curiosity, he took the painting to an art expert for appraisal.

To his amazement, he was told that the painting was an original work attributed to the famous French artist,Claude Monet. Its value was estimated at around one million dollars.

Now, it would take me another thirty minutes to explain how a Picasso supposedly ended up in this man’s kitchen, so I will spare you that part.

But perhaps there is an immediate lesson here: when you get home today, check the paintings hanging in your kitchen. You never know!

But there is a deeper lesson.

This man had lived in poverty while something of tremendous value hung on his wall. Day after day, he struggled to survive, moving from one job to another, without realizing the treasure that was already in his possession.

We Can Be Spiritually Poor Without Realizing It

My friends, spiritually speaking, you and I can sometimes be like that man.

We can live as though we were spiritually poor while possessing an extraordinary treasure: God’s mercy.

We can carry guilt for years without fully accepting that God offers forgiveness. We can continue punishing ourselves for mistakes God is ready to forgive. We can forget the grace offered to us through prayer, the Eucharist, and especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

And perhaps this helps us understand today’s Gospel.

An Impossible Debt Is Forgiven

Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” Jesus answers with the parable of a servant who owes his king an enormous debt.

Jesus deliberately makes the amount almost unimaginable. The servant owes ten thousand talents. One talent represented thousands of days’ wages. Ten thousand talents, therefore, was not simply a large debt. For an ordinary person, it was impossible to repay.

There was no realistic way the servant could ever repay it.

Yet the king had compassion on him and forgave the entire debt. Imagine walking away from that!

You came in owing more than you could ever repay, and suddenly you owe nothing. You are free.

But then this same servant meets another servant who owes him only one hundred denarii, a significant amount, but tiny compared with the debt he himself had just been forgiven.

And what does he do?

He grabs the man and demands, “Pay back what you owe.”

He Received Mercy but Did Not Understand Mercy

That is the tragedy of the story.

The servant received mercy, but he never allowed that mercy to enter his heart.

Perhaps his greatest problem was not simply cruelty. His problem was that he failed to appreciate what he had just been given.

And we can do the same.

It is difficult to offer mercy when we have forgotten the mercy we have received. It is difficult to forgive when we forget how many times God has forgiven us. It is difficult to be generous when we stop noticing how generous God has been toward us.

Sometimes we go through life on autopilot. We wake up, work, solve problems, pay bills, deal with difficulties, and prepare for another day. In the process, we can forget the treasures already hanging on the walls of our lives. The people who love us. The gift of another day. Our families and friends. The opportunity to begin again. And above all, the mercy of God.

Forgiveness Begins by Remembering

Forgiveness does not mean pretending that someone did not hurt us. It does not mean that injustice does not matter. It does not always mean restoring a relationship exactly as it was before.

Christian forgiveness begins by remembering what we ourselves have received.

Before looking at the hundred denarii someone owes us, Jesus asks us to remember the ten thousand talents that have been forgiven us.

Maybe that is our invitation today.

Discover the Treasure You Already Possess

Discover the treasure you already possess.

Remember how much God loves you.

Remember how often God has forgiven you.

Remember how many times God has given you another chance.

And when we truly recognize the priceless treasure of God’s mercy in our own lives, perhaps our hearts will become a little more capable of giving that mercy to someone else.

Do not live spiritually poor while the treasure of God’s mercy is already hanging on the wall of your heart.