In dealing with others,
at work, in social relations, in everyday life, friction is almost
inevitable. It is also possible that someone offends us, that they
behave towards us in an unnoble way, that they harm us. And this,
perhaps, in a somewhat habitual way. Up to seven times must I forgive?
In other words, must I always forgive? This is the question Peter
proposes to our Lord in today's Gospel. It is also our prayer theme: do
we know how to forgive on all occasions, do we do it promptly?
We know the Lord's
answer to Peter, and to us: I do not say to you up to seven times, but
up to seventy times seven. That is, always. The Lord asks those who
follow him, you and me, for a posture of unlimited forgiveness and
apology. To his own, the Lord asks for a big heart. He wants us to
imitate him. The omnipotence of God," says St. Thomas, "is manifested
above all in the fact that he forgives and uses mercy, because God's way
of demonstrating his supreme power is to forgive freely... "2 and
therefore to us "nothing resembles God as much as being always ready to
forgive.
"Far from our conduct,
therefore, is the remembrance of the offenses that have been done to us,
of the humiliations that we have suffered - however unjust, uncivil and
coarse they may have been - because it is unbecoming of a child of God
to have a record ready, to present a list of offenses. Even if my
neighbor does not improve, even if he falls back again and again on the
same offense or on that which bothers me, I must renounce all rancor. My
inner self must be kept healthy and clean of all enmity.
Our forgiveness must be
sincere, from the heart, as God forgives us: Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors, we say every day in the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us
quickly, without letting rancour or separation corrode our hearts even
for a moment. Without humiliating the other party, without adopting
theatrical gestures or dramatizing. Most of the time, in ordinary life
together, it will not even be necessary to say "I forgive you": it will
be enough to smile, to return the conversation, to have a kind gesture;
to excuse, in short.
It is not necessary that
we suffer great insults to exercise this show of charity. Those little
things that happen every day are enough: quarrels at home over
unimportant matters, bad replies or intemperate gestures often caused by
people's fatigue, which take place at work, in the traffic of big
cities, on public transportation...
We would live our
Christian life badly if at the slightest touch our charity were to grow
cold and we felt separated from others, or we were to be in a bad mood.
Or if a serious injury made us forget the presence of God and our soul
lost its peace and joy. Or if we are susceptible. We have to make an
examination to see how our reactions are to the discomfort that living
together sometimes brings with it. To follow the Lord closely is to find
here too, in small setbacks and serious offenses, a path to holiness.
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