As Christians we are called to be people of forgiveness.\u00a0 Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”\u00a0 We acknowledge our need to be forgiven and we pledge to offer the same to others.<\/p>\n
Yet we find forgiving others (and ourselves) can be a challenge, especially when the\u00a0same\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>person keeps offending us in the\u00a0same\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>way over and over.\u00a0 In today’s gospel (8\/16\/18 – Thursday of 19th Week in Ordinary Time<\/a>), Peter offers to forgive as many as seven times.\u00a0 He probably feels pretty good about this as old Hebrew texts refer to forgiving three times.\u00a0 Is Jesus impressed?\u00a0 No, he replies, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Wow!\u00a0 That’s a lot but think about it, how many times have you asked God to forgive you?\u00a0 If you want to be forgiven so many times, shouldn’t you offer the same to others?<\/p>\n What does it mean to forgive?\u00a0 Often people think it means forgetting.\u00a0 With the little things I think part of forgiving can be forgetting.\u00a0 It isn’t worth remembering.\u00a0 On the other hard, “the big things” might seem too big to forget.\u00a0 The hurt is too much.<\/p>\n Forgiving is not about making amends.\u00a0 We need to make amends wherever possible but forgiveness really becomes important when amends can’t be made.\u00a0 We see that in today’s gospel<\/a>.\u00a0 Forgiveness really becomes very important when we have been hurt.<\/p>\n When we have been hurt, we want to put all the blame and responsibility on the other person.\u00a0 (I’ll throw in here that we must always consider if we have some responsibility for what has happened).\u00a0 We think it is for them to beg for our forgiveness.\u00a0 That would make us feel justified for the way we feel.<\/p>\n While we may never forget, forgiveness does mean letting go of the hurt.\u00a0 Otherwise, the “hurt” controls us.\u00a0 We might think of forgiveness as only beneficial to the person who has done the wrong.\u00a0 Forgiveness is also beneficial to the “victim.”\u00a0 Forgiving and letting go of the hurt makes it possible for the “victim” to move on.\u00a0 It makes it possible for us to love as Jesus love.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n P.S.\u00a0 As of today (8\/16\/18), my next presentation will center on forgiveness with a title of “Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Myself (and others)?”\u00a0 It’s scheduled for Wednesday, October 3rd at 7:00 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Christians we are called to be people of forgiveness.\u00a0 Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”\u00a0 We acknowledge our need to be forgiven and we pledge to offer the same to others. Yet we find forgiving others (and ourselves) can …<\/p>\n