Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(II
Corinthians 11:1-11; Matthew 6:7-15)
Pope St.
John Paul II added significantly to the prophetic assertion that there is no
peace without justice. He gave the insight that there is no justice without
forgiveness. He evidently saw forgiveness
as the key to social harmony. His
testimony underscores the emphasis Jesus gives forgiveness in today’s gospel
passage.
Jesus not
only places forgiveness in a key place in the model prayer for his disciples; he
also comments on its importance. He
considers forgiveness crucial to living as God’s children. Forgiveness frees one’s consciences from the
burden of guilt. She or he can
concentrate on doing good and not on repaying debt. Jesus emphasizes that forgiveness is not
reciprocal but dynamic. God forgives a person’s offenses if that person
forgives another’s offenses.
But it is
hard to forgive if we have been offended deeply. We want to hold on to a grudge until we can
get even. That attitude, however, belies
our membership in God’s family. If we retain
a grudge, we have no right to call God “Our Father.”
