Let go

by Fr. Sergio Arcila  |  10/01/2023  |  From the Clergy

A few weeks ago we heard the following in the gospel of Saint Matthew: “Peter approached Jesus and asked him: "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy– seven times." (Mt 18, 21 ff.) What is deeply striking is the position of Jesus Christ: YOU MUST ALWAYS FORGIVE.

The Church, a community of faith and bearer of the Good News (Gospel) must be seen as a “Community of the forgiven” in line with the Lord's Prayer. The gospel of Matthew 18: 21 – 35 invites us to “let go” of all forms of revenge, hatred and resentment, as an expression of CONVERSION and TRANSFORMATION of our lives. Whoever does not forgive is left in the hands of his own destruction. The forgiveness that the Lord Jesus asks of us is not a forgetting of the past, but rather a renewal of the present.

Forgiveness for Christians comes from a deep experience of self-love that then moves toward the person (s) who has hurt us. With a strong absence of love it is very difficult to let go of the desire for revenge.

Forgiveness, furthermore, to recover “harmony”, to seek our own good.

Let us remember the words of Saint Francis of Assisi:

“Oh, Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring Love. Where there is offense, let me bring Forgiveness. Where there is discord, let me bring the Union.”