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Forgive Everybody?

by Catherine Doherty

By November 25, 2019November 23rd, 2023No Comments

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We must forgive the society from which we came; we must forgive the ways it has hurt us. We must have forgiveness for all the pain that we have unknowingly experienced, even in the womb before our birth.

We must forgive those who may not have understood us, or have seemingly neglected us, or perhaps even rejected us. It is especially important that we forgive our parents for their human frailties.

If we can generate that first impulse of forgiveness within ourselves, then—like lightning going through a darkened sky—our forgiveness will cover everything.

It will flash across our memories as a lighthouse scans the sea, so that whenever its rays illuminate, anything that we think has hurt us, the touch of that light will bring forgiveness into our hearts and bless those whom we forgive.

As I pondered this word, “forgiveness,” another word suddenly came forth: “reconciliation.” In a flash, I understood that forgiveness will bring reconciliation.

And I knew then that there needs to be reconciliation among nations, among peoples, among all of us. We have to be reconciled to God first, then to ourselves, and then to the whole world including whoever has hurt us.

But we have to do more than that. If our forgiveness isn’t accepted, we have to turn the other cheek. That is what is meant by the two Beatitudes of the Lord:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Mt 5:4) and Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you for my sake; rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Mt 5:11-12).

If we implement these two Beatitudes, we shall inherit the earth as well as heaven.

From Dearly Beloved, vol. 3, (1990) p. 4, January 11, 1974, available from MH Publications

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