Forgiveness

Ever experience the difficulty of forgiving a family member? Ever experience the difficulty of forgiving someone you don’t like all that much? Ever experience the difficulty of forgiving AN ENEMY?

My guess is that most of us have experienced the first two scenarios. In the first two examples, it takes God’s grace to be able to forgive a family member or someone we just don’t get along with well.

But to genuinely forgive one’s enemy, that takes a spiritual miracle of God.

Today’s Gospel reminds me of the story of Immaculée Ilibagiza and her real life story (her book “Left to Tell” gives the details) of living through and eventually forgiving those people who murdered most of her family in the Rwandan Genocide of the early 1990’s.

At times, I have refused forgiveness of people, but it only caused resentment, bitterness, and the inability to be at peace with myself, the person I would not forgive, those around me who weren’t even part of the conflict, and most especially, Jesus.

One of the important truths that I forgot during these times I refused forgiveness was the times that I sinned against others and hurt them (which always involves a corresponding sin against God who made that/those people in his image and likeness) and yet asked Jesus himself for forgiveness of my sins during confession. Remembering my own times that I have wronged others by sinning against them helped me to be more humble and forgiving when I perceive I have been wronged.

If you are struggling to forgive someone or to ask someone for forgiveness and mercy, I invite us to spend some time before the upcoming season of Lent meditating in prayer in front of a Crucifix. Jesus’ ultimate act of forgiveness, mercy, and love perhaps can help us, with His grace, to begin to desire and act on the need to forgive or ask someone for forgiveness, and this leads to the peace that Jesus wants to give in his love for each of us.

Fr. Ryan