SEPTEMBER 13, 2020
We are called to forgive; and that can be really difficult.
You have been defrauded by the banks of your life’s savings – can you forgive?
You were abused as a child – can you forgive?
You were done out of a job because another lied to get it – can you forgive?
The answer is maybe ‘no’.
What then does God want?
He asks us to open our hearts to the other so that we may forgive. Forgiveness is the deepest of God’s desires on our behalf, and he hopes that we can forgive each other.
Our hurts and burdens are heavy to carry through life. To forgive can release some of that weight. The person who hurt us may be dead, or may not even know (or care) that we are hurting. When we desire to forgive but don’t know how, one way of looking for this strength is to pray for it. We often pray, ‘Lord, make my heart like yours’. When we pray that we are praying to be forgiving people!
Another way is to pray for the person. When we realise that as God loves me, he also loves everyone, we may find a spark or light of forgiveness in our souls. Out of this we may find the will to meet the other and talk to him or her, and find the grace of forgiveness between us.
Forgiveness sometimes comes slowly. When God sees us wanting to be on the road to forgiveness, he gives us the graces we need to unburden ourselves and be able to love like him. Sit in silence for a while, and send a blessing or prayer to someone you need to forgive.
Lord, I ask – make my heart like yours.
