LENT DAY 7: TO FORGIVE IS TO PRAY. (Homily for February 16, 2016. Tuesday of the First Week of Lent)


Bible Study:  Isaiah 55, 10 to 11. Matthew 6, 7 to 15).


There are two things we can never avoid: the fact that people will offend us and the fact that we would offend people. No matter how we try to protect ourselves, the actions of others consciously and unconsciously will bring us pain.

We can only forgive if we are able to accept our imperfections. And prayer is one exercise that makes us come to terms with our nothingness. To pray well is to fully examine our conscience and admit our faults. And the moment we acknowledge our inability to meet the mark despite our best efforts, we become sympathetic to those who try to please us yet keep offending us.

This is why in teaching us to pray, Jesus added: “Forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus knew it would be very easy to ask God for forgiveness without first examining our conscience, we pray for forgiveness but somehow we still believe we are better than the rest of the world, that we cannot make mistakes, that we are always right.

So by adding the clause “as we forgive those who sin against us”, Jesus intends to send us a message: we cannot say we are perfect if there are still persons we are yet to forgive. If we have not forgiven, then we have not examined our conscience very well, if we are yet to forgive, it means we are just talking to God, not really praying.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, bring me to an awareness of my limitations that I may learn to forgive as you did on the cross. Amen.


God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. 

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