Thought of the Day March 18, 2019 Forgiveness is to be our way of life
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Fr. Cantalamessa said: “This prayer was not simply murmured under his breath;
it was cried out so that people could hear it well. Neither is it even a
prayer; it is a peremptory request made with the authority that comes from
being the Son: ”Father, forgive them!” And since he himself had said that the
Father heard all his prayers (see Jn 11:42), we have to believe that he heard
this last prayer from the cross and consequently that the crucifiers of Christ
were then forgiven by God (if they repented.”
Maybe this was the reason for the Centurion’s confession. We read in
Luke 23:47: “The centurion who
witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, ‘This man was innocent beyond doubt.’” His and the good thief’s conversion testifies to what
extremes the love of God is capable of going.
As the God Man, Jesus could have destroyed his
enemies by the breath of his mouth. Instead, he chose to forgive them, with the
hope that they would come to the truth, repent and be saved. Paul reminds us of
the mystery of Jesus decision to lay down his life for those who sinned. “For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the
appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with
difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one
might even find courage to die. But God proves his love
for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if,
while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. (Rom 5:6-10)
We are to forgive others no matter what as God has forgiven us.
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