The Our Father prayer, in which Jesus taught about forgiveness, is one of the most important prayers in Catholic Christianity. It is the responsibility of humanity to forgive sins, as Jesus gave the disciples the commandment to go out, teach and forgive sins. Just as God sent his Son to forgive sins, so Jesus has passed that commandment on to his followers. What does the Bible say about forgiveness?
Joseph, who had long ago been sold into slavery by his brothers, had also long since forgiven them. But now that Jacob is dead, the brothers, thinking that perhaps Joseph had only feigned forgiveness to spare his father more sorrow, are worried that Joseph will now enact his revenge.
But now, the brothers fear, Joseph will use his power and authority to give them their just desserts. If Jacob had wanted this, would he not have told Joseph directly? But the lie does not matter; Joseph does not care. But it is just as much a challenge for us to forgive those who have done us wrong.
Forgiveness, of course, runs all through Scripture. It is, in a way, the whole point of the story of the Bible. The revelation we find in the sacred words is the story of an all-loving God forgiving a sinful humanity and reconciling them to himself and one another.
God is, in short, in the forgiveness business. Do not forgive seven times, but seventy times seven times. When, in the fullness of time, Jesus came to save us, central to his ethical teachings is the forgiveness of wrongs done. As many as seven times? The verb, understood in its Greek sense, reminds us that forgiveness is, like love, not a feeling, but an action involving the will rather than our emotions.
Though I am a Catholic priest, I have the great honor of working at an Anglican seminary. Forgiveness is, like love, not a feeling, but an action involving the will rather than our emotions. And that is, perhaps, the way we experience forgiveness existentially. But theologically, I think the Bible offers us a deeper perspective.
The parable of the unforgiving servant reminds us of the proper order of reconciliation. The king who wishes to settle accounts with his servants finds that a servant owes him 10, talents—an impossible sum for an ordinary laborer to pay back. And the king, showing mercy, simply forgives the debt, just like that. Not a meager sum, but by no means impossible to repay.
It is a clear story with an obvious moral. The wounds of division and hatred are overcome. By becoming a victim himself and, as such, acting as the one who forgives, Jesus reveals a new logic in human relationships, one not based on the dictates of retribution but on the demand for mercy. It follows that forgiving the offender becomes the basis upon which Christians request forgiveness of ourselves. Forgiveness, then, is sine qua non, the requirement for a true worship of God.
As sure as the follower of Jesus experiences Gods love by loving his neighbor, so too does that believer experience the forgiveness of God in the act of forgiving his neighbor. Forgiveness is both the result of Gods action and a condition for it.
As our appreciation for experiencing Gods forgiveness grows within us, so our capacity for forgiveness expands. Because forgiveness is so essential to the message of Jesus, it is not surprising that in his first post-Resurrection appearance, Jesus gives authority to his apostles to exercise forgiveness in his name. John in records the appearance of Jesus in the upper room:.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Catholic theology finds here Jesus intention to establish a sacrament of forgiveness in a formal rite of penance. In this rite, the priest absolves the penitent of his or her sins, but only when the penitent has confessed with true sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment or conversion. All of this presumes, however, that the penitent, who is the offender, is alive and personally offers a verbal confession of his or her sin.
One cannot confess the sins of another, even those of a close family member. Furthermore, one does not know for certain the degree of guilt that is borne by another conscience. What if a boy befriends a stranded extraterrestrial and works to help the being return home?
It was part of their avowed plan to stamp out religion in all its forms. Seminaries and religious schools were closed. The printing of Bibles and religious books was banned. Who is St. Charles Borromeo? Carlo Borromeo was born in Arona, Italy near Milan in He became a cardinal archbishop and was active in the Catholic Counter-Reformation after the Protestant Reformation in Italy. Charles Borromeo died at the age of 46 in Every year over a million children experience the divorce of their parents, and at least one-quarter of all young adults are children of divorce.
And those numbers grow when you include people whose parents never married but later split up, or those whose parents Love and Song Over fifty percent of popular songs are about love, whether in the classical era or today. Did you know that each month has a traditional Catholic devotion? Make yourself notes, write it on your calendar, and pray a specific Called to Conversion We are all called to conversion. This was a fundamental part of the proclamation of the kingdom of God and the Gospel. John R.
Not because they tell us that dragons are real, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated. But I do want to give a note here that I cover some very gritty realities of miscarriage in the following article, especially discussing burial Ruth Kennedy nee Baker is 30 and lives in England with her husband.
She loves running, wild camping and writing, and thinks there is almost nothing better than the feeling of satisfaction after a day out in the mountains.
Her faith means everything to her. Share On Facebook.
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