May the Lord give you peace and health. It is 05th March 2024. We reflect on Daniel 3:25, 34-43 and Matthew 18:21-35.
“Asking for forgiveness implies forgiving,” says His Holiness Pope Francis.
Are we magnanimous or mean in forgiving?
Consistency in love is forgiving. Forgiveness is the proof of charity. It is not easy to forgive because our self-centred hearts are always attached to hatred, to revenge, to resentment.
The first reading is the prayer of Azariah pleading for God’s mercy on God’s people. Just like people of Israel, we have no merits of our own, but we can gratefully receive mercy.
Can we forgive others as God forgives us?
Yes, it is possible for God just because God sees us God’s children. When we are willing to see others as brothers and sisters belong to one human family, it is possible to forgive.
We receive a surplus measure of forgiveness from God. So, we have the privilege to forgive.
“And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Mt. 18:35).
If we want to go to Heaven, we must forgive.
God wants us to forgive generously. Our forgiveness needs to be without limit, following the example of God. We cannot go on living mercilessly treating others and holding grudges against the others when God does not hold an account of our offences and swiftly forgives us.
God will ask an account of our life. It is not possible to love God in one hand and hate our brother or sister in the other hand.
The greater gift we can ever give to the other is forgiveness.
God not only expects but demands us to forgive others. Uttering sorry verbally is not enough for the pain we have caused, and it needs to be seen in our actions.
We all need to have the spirit of forgiveness as radical as possible in all our relationship with the ones who offend us constantly.
May the Lord teach us the wisdom to forgive.