The readings today go right to the core of Christian life: forgiveness. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus repeats the centrality of forgiveness – in teachings, parables, and conversations with his disciples. Today we see how Jesus even puts forgiveness into the Our Father, only prayer he taught his disciple. Then he says that the forgiveness we receive from God is connected to our way of living out forgiveness with others.
Jesus goes beyond just words, teachings, and sayings about forgiveness by showing us how much God loves us and pardons us through his own life with others. His encounter with the women at the well, with Matthew the tax collector, with the cripple man, with the adulteress woman, and with the repentant thief are all examples. Then Jesus takes on to himself all our sins on the Cross.
The experience of Christian life, of being forgiven by God, is what makes it possible for us to forgive and pardon others. Christian joy pushes us to pardon and forgive others.
Envy, hatred, grudges, hardheartedness, stubbornness, vigilante justice, self-justification, and even false piety throw up walls between us and others and between us and God. We are all created in the image of God who is an outpouring of love and pardon, God who always goes out of himself towards others. The experience of God creates community, communion, love, pardon and family. That is how we are created. That is what we are. That is what we have inside us. That is why hugs are so great, so warm, so over-powering to us. Hugs are joyful.
The world we live in, the general culture, teaches us that we are the center of our lives. That is the world and lifestyle that we have created. In the end, all the envy, hatred, selfishness, grudges, and self-justification that we have for our enemies does more damage to ourselves. We end up living in pain, frustration, isolation, sadness, and depression. We end up living separated from everyone else and separated from God.
Jesus calls us to live as God created us – in communion – to love and to forgive and to hugged. Take time this week during this Lenten season to forgive someone. Give someone a big hug. Someone you haven’t hug in a long time.
If you forgive others the wrongs they do to you,
your Father in heaven will forgive you.
Image: CANVA CJ 12 March2026 AI generated.