… treat us gently…

Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent

“…treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle and very merciful…” (Dan 3:42)

One of the things about living a radical vow of poverty is that it’s not uncommon that I find myself in a position where I have to beg.  I find it a deeply humbling and usually uncomfortable experience to be in a position where I know that there is no real reason for the other person to help me except for the generosity of their own heart.

Asking for forgiveness would have to be the most vulnerable experience there is when it comes to begging.  Perhaps in other situations my own goodness or reputation might help my cause, but where I’m asking for forgiveness, what I’m asking for is something I don’t deserve.

And yet Jesus’ parable today highlights that actually, for both of us to move on from whatever wrong I have done the other, genuine forgiveness is necessary.  Without it, the wound I have inflicted will continue to fester, and hold them captive to the past.

Whenever I’m struggling with forgiveness, this parable helps to give me some perspective, reminding me that I stand in the position of one who has been forgiven much.  The forgiveness of the king in the parable is a simple unpacking of the message of the Cross, which is a poignant reminder to us that Jesus doesn’t ask anything of us that He’s not prepared to do Himself.

Jesus, thank You for the Cross and the costly and generous gift of Your forgiveness!  I bring to you those people and situations that I’m struggling to forgive, and ask for Your help to give them what You’ve given me.

Katherine Stone

This reflection was originally written for Compassio - the 2026 Lenten Program of the Diocese of Wollongong.