Forgive and you will be forgiven

This excerpt from the Gospel for today’s Mass is Luke 6:37 “…Forgive and you will be forgiven.”

via USCCB.

Forgiveness is a recurring theme recently on this blog. It is one of the more difficult things that I find to write about.

Elsewhere (not on this blog) I wrote: “This is something I’ve struggled with for a long time. Saying the “Lord’s Prayer” and really thinking about the part near the end (“forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others…”) helps.

I had always thought that in not forgiving, that in maintaining the hold that the wrong had on me, is like a victory. That in forgiving them I would be like letting them “get away with it,” and they would “win.” Now I realize that in not forgiving them, I keep giving them power over me, I am enabling them to continue winning, with no effort on their own. Without even realizing it, they were still hurting me, even long after their initial hurt.

In forgiving them, I am releasing their power over me, and in effect, defeating them.

This may enable me to love them, again. Someday. Maybe.”

A big “maybe.”

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)