Forgiveness

Readings: EZ 18:21-28; PS 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7A, 7BC-8; MT 5:20-26

Forgiving others is sometimes easy, and sometimes it is difficult. It all depends on the person and the severity of what was done. But sometimes, the most difficult person to forgive, is ourselves.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is such a wonderful gift we have in the Catholic Church. While many people say you can confess your sins directly to God and be forgiven, which is true, we get to physically hear the words of forgiveness from Jesus through the Priest. There is something powerful in actually hearing the words of forgiveness. But just as powerful is us admitting to our sins, by speaking them out loud. It gives us power to overcome our sins, by actually having to name them.

But even when we admit to our sins, and we hear the words of absolution, so we know God has forgiven us, we sometimes struggle with forgiving ourselves. We know every detail of our sin. We know how unworthy we are. We know we do not deserve God’s forgiveness, but he forgives us anyway.

When we do not accept the gift of forgiveness from God, we are, in a way, saying “I know better than God.” “I know who can or cannot be forgiven.” This is in essence, turning away from virtue and toward evil that we hear in the first reading:

if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil, …, can he do this and still live?

Or as Jesus says in the Gospel:

whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Put yourself in that passage by replacing the word “brother” with “themselves” or some equivalent. In other words:

whoever is angry with themselves will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to themselves, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

So if you struggle with forgiving yourself, meditate and pray the phrase from the Psalm “But with you is forgiveness”, and treat yourself as well as you probably treat others, by forgiving yourself.