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This is another task of forgiveness that we all need to undertake. We must also ask for the grace to forgive ourselves. And that may be the most difficult task of all.
To admit to ourselves that we have done wrong, that we are not as good and “holy” as we thought we were, and that we need to be forgiven as well as to forgive, is not easy. And so, we are often unable to forgive ourselves all at once.
This constant, patient work of forgiveness is especially difficult for those who live in a family or any close community. For is there a parent who did not sometimes lose his or her temper with a child who misbehaved again and again? Has there ever been a family in which no one ever irritated anyone else, lost his or her temper, or thought nasty thoughts?
The most innocent, cutest baby can, at times, drive us out of our minds. We can drive our family out of their minds and need to be forgiven by them again and again, forgiven constantly, as Catherine Doherty taught her community to do.
How could we live with anyone or how could anyone live with us without such constant forgiving?
Excerpted from Restoration March 2010
