MERCY AND FORGIVENESS FOSTER RECONCILIATION

Author: Dr Jenny O'Brien

Perhaps the three most important words that children can learn are ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’, but the attitudes behind these words – respect, gratitude and forgiveness – only develop when they are lived out in the family, in the school, in the parish, and in society at large.
Pope Francis never ceases to remind us of the abundant love that God has for each one of us. ‘God never tires of forgiving,’ he tells us.  ‘The door of the Father’s house always remains open.’ No matter how many times we might fall short of the mark in living our Christian life, God is always there to welcome us back, to give us another chance, to heal our wounded spirits, to renew our hope. In a recent Sunday gospel we heard Peter asking Jesus how many times he ought to forgive. (Peter thought that he was being very generous in suggesting seven times because the Jewish law only required that a person be forgiven three times.) Imagine Peter’s surprise when Jesus suggested ‘seventy times seven’ as the appropriate number!

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