Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them Jesus addressed this parable: "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them.

  The Son was basically saying I can’t wait until you die. I want my inheritance, which is not mine by right yet, now. As far as I am concerned, you are dead to me as a father. Given this, the love of the father is beyond measure. This is foolishness on the part of the father.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

  How often have we done the same with our inheritance as a son or daughter of God through our personal sins?
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."’


He recognized that he did not deserve to be treated as a son because of what he had done. Because of his sins he lost sight of his true identity, even though the father was still father.
So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.


The foolishness of the father is evident. First, he allowed his son to disrespect him by giving him the inheritance as if he was dead. Second, he runs to the son and embrace him when he should have waited for the son to crawl back to him and beg him to restore him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’


The foolish father does not wait for the son to ask his forgiveness. Calling him father again was enough. The foolish father restores him as son and lavishes his blessings and gifts upon him.
How often has God done the same and more for us? Even if our repentance is imperfect, even if we may sin again, God forgives and restores us to our dignity as sons and daughters because of his great love and mercy.
Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’


Have we been self-righteous at times in the past? Have we complained that we are not treated by God like others are?
He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’"

  How do we apply this parable to our life? When have we been the father, the younger son or the elder son?                    What is the grace God is offering us at this moment?

"Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, 'Prove that you are a good person.' Another voice says, 'You'd better be ashamed of yourself.' There also is a voice that says, 'Nobody really cares about you,' and one that says, 'Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.' But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, 'You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.' That's the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen. That's what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us 'my Beloved.'" (Henri Nouwen)  It is so important that we filter out the lies, so that we can more clearly hear the truth. Jesus experienced the lies of the voices around him, but he knew that only the voice of the Father spoke the truth to him. That is why he is found to be in prayer, to hear the truth and direction from the Father. It is not easy to remain in the truth of the Father's love and choice. But if I do not, I will be drowned by the tidal surge of lies.

"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God." (Henri Nouwen) Many times we do not see how the bad moments are also times of gratitude to God. For even thought he did not cause them, he permitted them to draw us closer to him. By being grateful to God in all things, we learn the deeper meaning of the real spiritual journey. A grateful heart is pleasing to God for it acknowledges that God is the beginning of all things and that he has a plan for our good and not our woe. Thank you, God!

"We need to be receiving antennas that are tuned into the Word of God, in order to become broadcasting antennas! One receives and transmits. It is the Spirit of God who makes the Scriptures come alive, who makes us understand them deeply and in accord with their authentic and full meaning....What place does the Word of God have in my life, in my everyday life? Am I tuned into God, or into the many buzzwords, or into myself? This is a question that every one of us needs to ask him or herself." (Pope Francis) Lent is a grace time to allow the Word of God to transform us daily. Spending some time each day reading and reflecting on the Scriptures would give us the necessary spiritual food we need both to survive and to grow. If we spend time reading other things or viewing other things on the television or internet, then we have time to delve into the Word of God.

"'Return to me with all your hearts.' Why must we return to the God? Because something is not right in us...and we need to change, to give it a new direction. And this is called needing to convert! Once again Lent comes to make its prophetic appeal, to remind us that it is possible to create something new within ourselves and around us, simply because God is faithful, always faithful, for he cannot deny himself, he continues to be rich in goodness and mercy, and he is always ready to forgive and start afresh. With this filial confidence, let us set out on the journey!" (Pope Francis) We hear this prophetic call on Ash Wednesday and we need to hear it many times during the 40 day pilgrimage to the cross and the resurrection. We need to ask ourselves throughout to what extent am I responding to the call to return with all of my heart to the Lord? What is that area where my heart may still be hardened?

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"
Luke’s Gospel is the only account of these two events. Innocent people die daily as a result of human violence and natural events. Do these events say anything to us about the need to always be in right relationship with God? We know not the day or the hour or the event.
During this season of Lent, have we responded to the grace of repentance being given to us by God?
What are the areas of sin we need to repent of and to be reconciled back to God for?
Have we taken advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’" Is our life spiritually barren like the fig tree after all these many years of God’s grace?
Can we presume on God’s patience with us? Do I have any guarantee how much time is still allotted to me in life? Why do I delay in responding to God’s invitation of love?                     How can this Lent be a new beginning of spiritual fruitfulness in our life?

"How do we befriend our inner enemies lust and anger? By listening to what they are saying. They say, "I have some unfulfilled needs" and "Who really loves me?" Instead of pushing our lust and anger away as unwelcome guests, we can recognize that our anxious, driven hearts need some healing. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner rest where lust and anger can be converted into a deeper way of loving. There is a lot of unruly energy in lust and anger! When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our anger and lust. This takes patience, but it is possible." (Henri Nouwen) Isn't it great to hear that these and other "spiritual addictions" can be transformed by the grace of God and our response? Isn't this one of the purposes of Lent? We are called to confront the enemies within and to bring them to the cross and to replace them with something more noble and beautiful, namely Jesus, to whom our hearts belong. It doesn't happen overnight or in one Lent. But it can happen over a  period of time and endurance.

"What then must your mercy be, dear God, to bear with me after so many crimes, with me who am no more that a handful of mire, and to recall me to you without any wish to destroy me! How great must your love be to outweigh, to overcome this dreadful aversion which you naturally have for sin! Really, this consideration pierces my heart, and fills me, I think, with a very tender love for God." (St. Claude La Colombiere) If we reflect on the infinite, unconditional mercy of our loving God, how can we not respond in two ways? How can we continue to blatantly sin (even though we will always far short of the glory of God out of weakness)? How can we not respond in love for love?

One of our unique human qualities is aloneness which is different from loneliness. We need time for aloneness in the midst of our daily, hectic life. Loneliness leads into isolation. Aloneness leads us into solitude. One is painful and destructive; the other is productive and peaceful. Loneliness seeks to cling to others in desperation to make us happy. Aloneness finds its strength in the Lord, in whom we can rest. Lent is a special time of God's grace  leading us into spiritual solitude, so that we can be more attentive to his word and direction in our life. Avoid loneliness; seek aloneness.

I want to personally invite the women who are in driving rage of Houma, La, to the annual Woman of God Conference this weekend--Feb 19-20. It will be a special grace time for those attending as part of their Lenten journey. It begins at 6:00pm and goes to 10:00pm this Friday and resumes Saturday from 9:00am-6:00pm, including Mass. The theme of the Conference is Mercy. For further information or to register, go to conferenceinfo@htdioicese.org or call 985-850-3171. Hope to see you there.

Mary, Comforter of the afflicted, pray for us! This role of Mary--to comfort those in affliction--began at Calvary, where her presence, sharing in Jesus' sufferings, must have given him some consolation. thought sinless by God's grace, she must have mourn over the sins of the world that her Son had taken upon himself. In turn she invites us to join her on Calvary to mourn for our sins and those of the world. Thus we will be fulfilling the Beatitude that says: "Blessed are they who mourn, they shall be consoled." When we experience our afflictions, Mary is there to comfort and strengthen us to endure the cross with her Son.

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray.
Jesus, in his humanity, saw the need to go aside and pray even when people were demanding more of his ministry. How much time do we set aside each day for prayer?                    Jesus has just revealed to the twelve that the Son of Man will have to suffer and die
                   and rise from the dead. They didn’t want to hear this

                  To give the three an affirmation of what he said and who he was, he allows them to share 
                  in this theophany from the Father.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

                  In prayer Jesus is strengthened for his impending death on the cross for our salvation.

                 When have we been strengthened in prayer during a difficult moment of our life?

                The presence of Moses and Elijah is to remind the Apostles that Jesus is the fulfillment of  
                the Law and the Prophets.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying.
                 Peter was caught up in the glory of the moment but made no connection with the death of
                 Jesus. How often we want to experience the glory and joy but not see them connected to
                 the journey of the cross in our life? We fail to remember what Paul tells us: there is no
                 Easter without Good Friday.

While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."
                 The word of the Father is to direct Peter and the others back to the word of Jesus
                 concerning the cross. The Father who identified Jesus at his baptism as the beloved Son
                 does so once more, not for Jesus’ sake, but for his Apostles.

                 How well do we listen to Jesus in the scriptures, in prayer, in the inspirations of the
                 moment?

                Can we discern the voice of the Lord from other voices?


After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
                Have you ever had an experience so profound that you could not share it with others,
                because you had not fully processed it yet?

                Reflect on the experience of the Transfiguration. What does it say to you at this point in    
                your life?

"Jesus says something remarkable to us : 'greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' Love always takes this path: to give one's life. To live life as a gift, a gift to be given--not a treasure to be stored away." (Pope Francis) We say we love. We do and we don't. Does our love measure up to the litmus test that Jesus speaks of? To love is to die to self. To love is to be other focused. To love is to wish the best for the other. Love is life-giving; selfishness is life-taking. Lent is a special time of grace given to us by God so that our love may reflect his love even to the death of the cross.

"When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words." (Henri Nouwen) How true this is! It is not only the words we use by how we speak them that matters. I can say "I love you," but they are just sounds in the air, if they are not said in truth and with conviction.  Take a few moments to reflect on how you use these simple words in comparison how God uses them when he speaks them to you.

What is the purpose of fasting? Physical fasting from physical food and drink is to prepare  and strengthen us for the spiritual fasting from sin,  both sins of commission and sins of omission. Fasting helps us to become more attentive to the areas of sin in our life with the determination of avoiding and uprooting these sins with the help of God's grace. These are sins of commission. At the same time fasting gives us a clearer insight in the sins of omission, primarily where we are blinded in the areas of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, namely the needs of others. Mere physical fast without the spiritual fast will only affect us physically and externally, but not spiritually and interiorly.

I came across this and found it interesting and provoking.  St. Bernadette embraced the cross of daily afflictions with a spirit of gratitude. She wrote: " Thank You, my God, for the procurator, the superintendent of police, the policemen, and for Abbe Peyramale's harsh words! For the slap in the face,...for the bantering, the insults, for those who believed I was crazy, for those who believed I was lying, for those who believed I was greedy, thank you, Lady Mary! For the spelling I never learned, the knowledge of books I never had, for my ignorance and my stupidity, thank you! For my mother who died so far away, for my sorrow when my father instead of opening his arms to his little Bernadette, called me 'Sister Marie-Bernard', I thank you, Jesus!" How many times we will experience similar affronts from others this Lent? What will we do with them? Retaliate? Get angry? Be non-forgiving? Or will we say, "thank you, Jesus, for allowing me to share in your sufferings for my sake in your life and Passion? The grace of Lent touches us each day.

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." (Pope Francis) Now it begins! Our 40 day pilgrimage of purification in the spiritual desert where sin is to be stripped away! Pray to the Lord for the grace needed to accomplish what he desires in your life at this time. Desire more intentionally for the grace to confirm your will to God's will for you. Keep your eyes fixed on "the Promised Land": the new life of Easter. Embrace the cross that leads to the resurrection. Don't give up along the way, but persevere. Like the runner who strives for the gold medal, it is worth the effort it takes to reach the end.

"What can we say about God's love? We can say that God's love is unconditional. God does not say, 'I love you, if ...' There are no ifs in God's heart. God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity. God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. God's love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances. Does that mean that God does not care what we do or say? No, because God's love wouldn't be real if God didn't care. To love without condition does not mean to love without concern. God desires to enter into relationship with us and wants us to love God in return. Let's dare to enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear, trusting that we will receive love and always more love." (Henri Nouwen) Isn't this one of the themes of Lent? To return to God's love, to expand our hearts to receive more of God's love, to return love with love? Lent is not so much of giving-up of things as putting on the mind of Christ. He is love. Will we do what we do out of love so as to become love? Easter is a love feast.  Only those who have journeyed in love during Lent will be ready to celebrate this feast.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.

• The role of the Spirit in Jesus’ life is very important in Luke’s Gospel. In his humanity, Jesus needed the Spirit just as we, in our humanity, need the Spirit.
• Here it is the work of the Spirit to keep Jesus’ eyes on the Father and to trust fully in the Father. So too, the Spirit is present to us in times of temptations. How conscious are we of this presence and how quickly do we turn to the Spirit in temptations for strength and guidance?

He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”

• The first temptation is to have Jesus question his dependency on God as his Father to provide for his needs. The temptation of Adam and Eve was also centered around food, not because they were hungry, but their need to be depended upon God. They could be equal to God.
• Where are we tempted to satisfy ourselves and not to believe that God can satisfy us fully?

Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.”

• The temptation of Adam and Eve was don’t they want to be like God, knowing good and evil? Don’t they want to have the same power and authority as God?
• For Jesus, the second temptation was touching on the human ambition for power and possessions. The price would be to substitute the true God for a pseudo-god.
• What are our vulnerabilities and areas of weaknesses which the evil one seeks to trip us up in? What are the false gods we reach out to rather than the true God?

Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says: ’You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”

• The temptation is to test God, not trusting in him as God, not respecting him as God. It is the temptation to have God prove himself to us. It denies the relationship of dependency upon God.
• In each of the temptations, Jesus depended upon the Word of God to counter the devil. The temptation is a lie; the Word of God is the truth.
• What do we learn from this passage that we can implement in our lives during this season of Lent?
• Do we need to study and reflect on the Word of God more?  Do we need to surrender our life to Jesus more? Do we need to call on the strength of the Spirit in the time of temptations?

When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

• There were many other subtle temptations for Jesus during his public ministry. The next biggest comes in the Garden of Olives and on the Cross.
• In our life, the devil is always looking for ways to separate us from God. Like Jesus we must keep our eyes on the Father and trust in his providential care.

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent?  Our indifference, our hardness of heart.  What are we to believe?  Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you."  (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta ) How can we grow in greater love this Lent? What will be the grace moments given to us by God to strip away all that is non-loving in our thoughts, words and deeds so that in turn we may truly love?  What are the areas of indifference that we are neglecting to deal with? Where is our heart hardened to the grace of God that God asks permission to crush with his mercy?  Lent is a pilgrimage to the cross and to the tomb. At the cross we die to sin; at the tomb we rise to the new Easter life of Jesus Christ. Have a blessed Lent!

Pope Francis tells the story of an eighty-three year old nun who told him one day: "I am finishing my course in this life, to begin another with the Lord, because I have pancreatic cancer." What an attitude in the face of the mystery of death. What motivated her was not fear of death and the end of her life, but the expectation of the beginning of a new journey with the Lord.  Life is a journey that includes many forms of deaths. But these "deaths" are not the determination of life but the preparations for the real life ahead of us: eternal life. But not just any eternal life should we look forward to but eternal life with the Lord. This is the preparatory stage and the time of practice for our big moment in our journey.

What is the greatest inheritance we can leave our children? The Holy Father says it is faith. Reflecting on David's final words to his son Solomon, the Holy Father said, "Before dying, David exhorted his son Solomon to observe the Law of the Lord... He left the most beautiful and greatest inheritance a man or a woman can leave their children: He left them the faith." What a sobering thought! The greatest treasure we have received is our faith in the God who loves us and wants us to be with him forever in glory. But this treasure is to be past on to our children, as we promised to God on the day of their baptism. Wealth and other possessions will come and go. Faith with hope and charity will last till the end. What is that faith? A personal relationship with God! Instill this in them and then die peacefully.

"Trust is the basis of life. Without trust, no human being can live. Trapeze artists offer a beautiful image of this. Flyers have to trust their catchers. They can do the most spectacular doubles, triples, or quadruples, but what finally makes their performance spectacular are the catchers who are there for them at the right time in the right place.

Much of our lives is flying. It is wonderful to fly in the air free as a bird, but when God isn't there to catch us, all our flying comes to nothing. Let's trust in the Great Catcher." (Henri Nouwen)  We trust that God will be there to catch us because he loves us. At the same time, we can't be foolish and do stupid things to test the Lord, such as jump away from him.  Trust is based on a relationship of respect and love. It is also a growing relationship: the more we trust, the more we are able to trust.

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. There is a pattern to Jesus’ ministry. He teaches and then confirms his message with a miraculous sign. Or he performs a sign and, having gotten their attention, then teaches. Both sign and word are messages.
In this case, the message was for Simon and his friends as well. What he taught we do not know but it could have been a preparation for the invitation to Simon and companions to become his disciples and follow him.
It was not by accident that he chose Simon’s boat. This was not the first time that Jesus and Simon have met. In John’s Gospel we are told of an initial or preparatory encounter prior to this event. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." Sometimes we are more comfortable on the shores of life—in our comfort zone. But God calls us to put out into the deep. What is the area in your life that God is calling you to put out into the deep and move away from your comfort zone?
Simon had no clue what was about to happen would be life changing for him. Has God done something in your life that was also life-changing, which you were not prepared for?
What was the first step for Simon and for us? Do what he tells us, even though we do not understand. When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon.
What is the second step for Simon and for us? Recognizing our sinfulness and unworthiness and repent.
Peter’s own unworthiness and sinfulness was a block to going deeper in his own life. What is the block in our lives? Can we like Peter acknowledge the block, the area of sin and like Peter not let it be a block any longer? Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. What is the third step? What is an apparent block to us is not an obstacle for Jesus to overcome. This was not the end of the story for Peter or for us.
The miracle was a preview of what Jesus wanted to do it their lives. But they had to be willing to let go their comfort zone and trust in Jesus and follow him no matter the cost. This is what it means to put out into the deep.
Peter and his companions were not perfect when they responded to Jesus’ invitation. They grew in relationship as they spent time with Jesus.
What is the fourth step? We must be willing to surrender and follow the path the Jesus begins to show us in our life.                    What is God saying to you as you reflect on this passage?

"There are two sides to forgiveness: giving and receiving. Although at first sight giving seems to be harder, it often appears that we are not able to offer forgiveness to others because we have not been able fully to receive it. Only as people who have accepted forgiveness can we find the inner freedom to give it. Why is receiving forgiveness so difficult? It is very hard to say, "Without your forgiveness I am still bound to what happened between us. Only you can set me free." That requires not only a confession that we have hurt somebody but also the humility to acknowledge our dependency on others. Only when we can receive forgiveness can we give it." (Henri Nouwen) How true! And yet how often we feel unworthy of forgiveness, which we are, but fail to realize that it is a grace from God. This is what we are refusing--God's love in the act of forgiveness. Whatever we feel ashamed of is nothing in comparison to refusing God's love.  In a sense we make our decision not to accept God's forgiveness, which includes forgiving ourselves, more important than his merciful love. Is there something wrong with this picture?