Forgiveness

One of the recurrent themes of Lent is forgiveness. Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask for forgiveness simultaneous to the forgiveness we offer to "those who have offended us", yet those words, which slide so easily off our slippery lips, often do not come from the heart and remain just words. Lent provides the time to stop and take stock of what it means to forgive, to be forgiven by others, especially by God. We are encouraged to take the time to make a good examination of conscience and a good confession, realizing how consciously or inadvertently we have wounded others by rejection, judgment, manipulation or violation of one of the Ten Commandments. It is painful and humbling to accept the wrong and pain we have inflicted on others, or the wounds we have received from them. Sometimes long silences, which we hoped would cover the wounds hide them for a time, but do not remove them as well as a humble admission of guilt and plea for forgiveness.
We might think that some situations cannot be rectified or erased through forgiveness, being too far gone or "impossible". It is then we need to remember again that "nothing is impossible with God" and ask him to help us with the difficult task of forgiving or asking forgiveness. The simple prayer, often seen as a bumper sticker, "Jesus saves", might be expanded to "Jesus forgives," "Jesus heals," "Jesus saves from fear, or cowardliness, or shame" to eliminate the block that stands in the way of forgiveness. Try it and see what vanishes into thin air.
Bro. Rene