Tuesday; March 25, 2014
Who Is In the Fiery Furnace and Who Is Not?
If you tried to look up the Daniel passage in your trusty NIV pr other Protestant Bible, you were puzzled by its absence. Rohr is a Catholic theologian and uses, naturally enough, a Catholic Bible. You can read the Daniel text here. It is a prayer written by one of the three men in the fiery furnace. The prayer fervently asks God to save them from the fiery furnace with a promise to follow him the rest of his life.
The NT text is the parable Jesus tells in response to a question about how many times to forgive. A Master (God) forgives his servant of a huge debt. The servant won’t forgive a fellow servant for a minuscule debt. Of course, the Master (God) reacts as you would expect. And, then the point of the parable. "Should you not have dealt mercifully with your fellow servant just as I dealt with you?”
Rohr connects the two texts thusly: "praying to forgive serious injuries is like praying while burning in a fiery furnace, and if you do not pray to be released from your unforgiving heart, you will indeed keep burning. Sometimes, only God can release you from such a furnace.”
“God of Compassion, Mother and Father of all Mercies, do not let us shame ourselves— or the wonder of your name— by living outside of the wondrous loop of your forgiveness and mercy.”
Quotes from Rohr, Richard (2010-12-27). Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent (p. 66). St. Anthony Messenger Press. Kindle Edition.
