As we forgive our debtors

Is 55,10-11; Ps 33; Mt 6,7-15
12 MARCH

The Law of Jesus on forgiveness also belongs to the truth that is the essence of the Gospel and consists in overcoming all the ancient divine dispositions on forgiveness.

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, 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. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Mt 5,20-24).

Reconciliation, forgiveness and the offer of peace is the obligation of the offended. It is he who must present himself to the offender and offer him his reconciliation, his forgiveness and his peace. The Heavenly Father, the Offended by his creature, not only offered us his reconciliation, his forgiveness and his peace. He also atoned for our debts with the gift to humanity of His Only Begotten Son, who offered himself in sacrifice and holocaust of atonement. The Apostles of Jesus are those who must go to the world, asking, even begging and pleading every man to let himself be reconciled with God.

For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: “In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2Cor 5,14-6.2).

Faced with this very high truth of atonement, Peter’s question to Jesus on how many times we must forgive the brother who sins against us becomes useless and superfluous. If we are to cooperate with Christ Jesus for the atonement of the sin of the world, forgiveness is unlimited and unconditional on our part. We have consecrated life for the atonement of sins and there is no atonement without the will of forgiveness. It would be really strange for a Christian to expiate sins, but not to forgive them. As every sin is to be atoned in Christ, so every sin must be forgiven in Christ. It is the Gospel.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Jesus warns and admonishes us. Whoever wants to be forgiven must forgive. Since we are all sinners before God, we must all always forgive. Without Christ Jesus in the heart and the Holy Spirit in the soul, human nature is not able to forgive. Once again the work of the Church is revealed to be necessary. She must create the man capable of every forgiveness, of every expiation, of every reconciliation.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, make us true Christians capable of true forgiveness and true expiation.