Forgiveness 

   “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43: 25) 

   Of all the commands of the Lord forgiveness might be the hardest to practice.  We tend to remember the wrongs done to us and hold a grudge.  We may even accept the apology of the one who harmed us but still hold ill feelings toward them.

   When Peter asked if he must forgive his brother as many as seven times Jesus replied, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy times seven. (Matt 18: 22).  We, on the other hand, say, “Once bitten, twice shy.”  We may forgive but we will not forget.  This is not the forgiveness God intends.

   Forgiveness is so difficult for us that we often cannot even forgive ourselves.  We go to confession, we do penance, but we still worry that God may not have forgiven.  Satan suggests that our sin was too great or there were too many sins for God to truly forgive and we fall into the trap he sets.  But that is not of God, but of Satan.  “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103: 12).

   However, there is one thing required if our sins are to be forgiven and that is our forgiveness of those who sin against us.  “If you forgive others for the wrongs they have done, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matt 6: 14 – 15).

   If we do not forgive others and strive to forget their sins against us, we cannot expect God to forgive us our sins, and welcome us into His heavenly kingdom.