God Forgives

by Deacon Juan Carlos  |  09/11/2022  |  From the Clergy

In today's Gospel, Jesus narrates three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the last parable tells us about the son who spends the inheritance that his father gave him. The son leading a messy life wasting his assets, but there comes a time in his life when things are not going well and he understands that he has acted wrongly. After doing an examination of conscience, he returns to his father's house to ask his forgiveness. The father was waiting for him far from complaining and setting conditions for his bad behavior, he goes out to meet his son and receives him with a hug and kisses (Lk. 15: 11-32).

The image of the father who goes out to meet his son is that of God and of us sinners. In some moments of our lives we have lost ourselves, we have deviated and deprived of God. God calls us to live in his presence again, thanks to his infinite mercy and great unconditional love that he has for us. Sadly we are weak and we continue sinning, sometimes sin is great and we see it, sometimes it is so small, so finite that only with divine light we can perceive it. Jesus Christ understands this weakness in us for that reason he instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that every time we sin and fail after making an examination of conscience, we go to confess our sins. Our Father God is in the confessional, waiting for us with open arms to forgive us.

The invitation for us is that, just as God forgives us, we must also forgive those people who harm us, offend us, or "who according to us" have harmed us and have offended us. "Be merciful as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).