At Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis reminded the faithful to always forgive, as Jesus did in his infinite mercy, noting that if we imitate God’s unfathomable, loving mercy, it restores peace in our hearts.
Charlotta Smeds – Vatican City
Pope Francis calls on the faithful to be merciful and to forgive, beyond measure, like Jesus.
He did so during his Angelus reflection on Sunday from his window in the Apostolic Palace, as he reflected on today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, which focuses on forgiveness.
Seventy seven times
In that reading, Peter asks Jesus: ‘Lord, how many times can my brother do me wrong and still be forgiven by me? As much as seven times? (v. 21). The Pope explained that the number seven in the Bible is a number that means complete, and therefore Peter was “very generous in accepting the question.”
“But Jesus,” notes Pope Francis, “goes further and answers him: ‘ I tell you: not seven times but seventy-seven times.'”
“What Jesus tells him is that when you forgive, you don’t make calculations. It’s good to forgive everything and always!”
God, said Pope Francis, so forgives with us. And likewise, those who administer God’s forgiveness are called to do the same, “always forgiving.”
God forgives without calculation
“The message of Jesus,” said the Pope, “is clear: God forgives without making calculations and surpasses all measures”
God acts in love and unconditionally, the Pope observed: “We cannot repay him, but when we forgive our brother or sister, we imitate him. Forgiveness is therefore not a good deed, which one can choose to do or not do.”
This constitutes “a fundamental condition” for those who are Christians, he noted. “God has given his life for us and we cannot in any way compensate for his grace…”
Like oxygen
But by responding to his unconditionality, that is, by forgiving each other, the Pope said, we can bear witness to him and sow new life around us. “For outside forgiveness there is no hope; outside forgiveness there is no peace.”
“Forgiveness,” the Pope asserted, “is the oxygen that purifies the air polluted by hatred, it is the antidote to the poisons of resentment, it is the way to relieve anger and heal so many heart diseases that pollute society.”
Questions to ponder
The Pope urged the faithful to ask themselves some key questions.
“Do I believe that I have received the great gift of forgiveness from God? Do I feel the joy of knowing that He is always ready to forgive me when I fall, even when others do not, even when I cannot forgive myself? “
At the same time, the Pope continued, we must ask if we in turn “forgive those who have hurt me?”
A little homework
With this in mind, Pope Francis said he wanted to propose “a small exercise”.
“Let’s try, now, each of us, to think of a person who has hurt us, and let’s ask the Lord for the strength to forgive them. And let’s forgive them out of love for the Lord.”
“It will do us good. It will restore peace in our hearts,” he said, ending his reflection by asking the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, to help us accept God’s grace and forgive one another.
Tags: Popes Angelus God forgives calculation
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