Today Peter asks Jesus, "Must we forgive our brother as many as seven times?" Jesus's response is telling: "Not seven times but seventy-seven times." And then he gives a parable so that we can understand why. Why does Jesus expect us to do something as hard as forgiving our neighbor? Because we ourselves have been forgiven.

Today's challenging Gospel reminds us that we are to consider one another brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, if someone sins against us or if someone in the community is sinning, then we need to do something about it. The reason we care at all is because love must be the motivating factor of our life. If someone is doing something wrong we must not look the other way but care enough to help them to repent and come back to full Communion in the Church.

In today's Gospel we see Peter's humanity in his inability to accept that Jesus must suffer. (This is all the more interesting and important considering that immediately before this Peter confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God and is then called the "rock" on which the Church of Jesus will be built.) Jesus responds to Peter's refusal to accept the suffering of the Messiah with the words, "You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do." This reminds us that we can't judge Peter, because we tend to think -- like Peter -- that suffering and death is the worst thing. This is our perspective, but what is God's perspective? To him, suffering and death is not the world thing but a remedy for healing and part of the necessary path to eternal life.

Today's Gospel features one of the most beloved and important passages to Catholics, where Jesus names Peter "Rock" (the name Peter itself is a translation into English of the Greek word for rock) and declares that the church will be built upon him. Furthermore, and more radically, Jesus tells Peter that to him are given "the keys to the kingdom of heaven" -- keys being a symbol of authority. And then he tells Peter, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." So Jesus is giving Peter the authority to act and decide in Jesus's name. And this is precisely what we believe the current Holy Father to be (Pope Francis or whomever it is at the time): the Successor of Peter -- the guarantor of the fidelity of the teachings of the Church to Christ -- and the secure foundation upon which our Church -- and our faith -- rests. Let us pray for the grace to be obedient to this authority which Christ Himself has given!

In last week's Gospel we heard how Jesus was interrupted in his attempt to seek out silence and solitude after hearing of the death of John the Baptist. Today we hear how he finally got out, after he fed the 5000. The Gospel writers frequently make mention of Jesus's going to a quiet place to be with his Father, alone. And if Jesus needed this daily time in silence with God the Father, how much more so do we need it?!? Today we discuss Jesus's prayer and how it is helpful for us in knowing how we ourselves should approach prayer.

One of the things that we notice in the story of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish is the difference between the attitudes of the disciples and Jesus towards the hungry crowds. To the disciples, they are a burden. They say to Jesus, "Dismiss the crowds so they can find food for themselves." But to Jesus the people are not a problem to be solved (or done away with). But rather they need to be loved. This reminds us of a maxim of St. John Paul II: "The only proper response to another human person is love." Let's ask the Lord to help us always to treat people not as a burden to us but with love.

The Fathers of the Church help us out greatly when they tell us how we are to interpret the parables that Jesus begins with the words, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." They tell us that Jesus is talking about himself here. When Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like...", he is really sayings, "I am like..." So this helps us greatly to understand what he tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that someone sells all they have to buy: He is the one worth selling everything in order to obtain. But what does he mean when he tells us in today's second parable that he is the merchant in search of a fine pearl? This is what we explore in this Sunday's homily.

One of the interesting things that we notice about the parables that Jesus tells this week and last week is that the disciples don't understand. They wait until they are alone with Jesus and then ask him to explain the parables he has just told. Which begs the question, "Why did Jesus use parables, if they are difficult to understand?" While it's true that the message Jesus intends by the parable may not be immediately clear, the parables contain images from everyday life that would have been easily perceived by his audience. So the image is clear even if the message is not. So what Jesus is doing with the parables is inviting reflection; He invites us to enter into the mystery. So let's do that by spending time with the Gospel each week in preparation for Sunday Mass.

In Jesus's parables there is always a detail that seems a little surprising or odd. In the parable of the sower, it is definitely the appearance that the sower is really bad at his job. He is sowing seed, and he is getting it everywhere! So what is Jesus trying to tell us? He's trying to illustrate the way that God loves -- generously and not worried about waste. Such is God's love for us that he lavishes upon us in the Word he gives us: Jesus. So what kind of soil are we for our foolishly generous father? Good soil that can receive and welcome the gift of Jesus into our hearts so that faith can take root? Or thorns and rocks that represent a heart closed to grace?

Today's Gospel from Matthew 11 is a very consoling one: Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are labored and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you." Yet do we actually do this? Do we hand over our burdens to Jesus or do we try to figure things out ourselves? Yet the peace comes into our life when we can surrender our burdens to the One who can actually do something about them: Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything!