Lenton Thoughts of Forgiveness

solicited by Annie Gomba

cross“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
These are words of Jesus in his last hour. This time they apply to me. If I knew that my last hour were upon me, what baggage would I like to set down? What heaviness of heart would I wish to let go of, so that my spirit might rise? Might I be relieved to put down that heavy weight now, if only I knew how to pry loose my fingers? Jesus let go of the need to blame, to have pain befall those who had hurt him. Finally, he could say,
“Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.”

From: Jubilee Journal: A Workbook of Forgiving for the Millennium by Mary Cabrini Durkin, OSU and Sheila Durkin Dierks
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The most creative power given to the human spirit is the power to heal the wounds of a past it cannot change.

The first person to benefit from forgiving is the one who does it.

We do not forgive because we are supposed to; we forgive when we are ready to be healed.

We forgive people only for what they do, never for what they are.

Waiting for someone to repent before we forgive is to surrender our future to the person who wronged us.

Forgiving happens in three stages: We rediscover the humanity of the person who wronged us, we surrender our right to get even, and we wish that person well.

Forgiving is a journey; the deeper the wound, the longer the journey.

Forgiving is not a way to avoid pain but to heal pain.

When we forgive, we set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner we set free is us.

When we forgive we walk in stride with the forgiving God.
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People ask me what advice I have for a married couple struggling in their relationship, I always answer: pray and forgive. And to young people from violent homes, I say: pray and forgive. And again, even to the single mother with no family support: pray and forgive. Mother Teresa

We do not really know how to forgive until we know what it is to be forgiven. Therefore, we should be glad when we can be forgiven by our brothers. It is our forgiveness of one another that makes the love of Jesus manifest in our lives, for in forgiving we act towards one another as He acted toward us.

Thomas Merton

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