Our essence is to receive Love, to be Love, to radiate it. When we hurt our relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters, or when we are complicit in separating ourselves from them, it is as if we were amputating ourselves, destroying ourselves, and separating ourselves from the Source of our Life. The effects on us and around us are soon felt. It is then that God knocks on our door with the possibility of reconciliation. The hope of receiving forgiveness and returning to unity is fresh air, a light appearing on the horizon, bringing joy with it. This is how Pope Leo XIV speaks to us.
As St. Augustine says, using the image of a boat, all of us “in this life have cracks in our mortality and fragility, through which sin enters from the waves of this century” (Discourse 278, 13,13). And the holy bishop of Hippo proposes a remedy for evil: “To empty ourselves and not sink,” he says, “let us take up… this exhortation… Let us forgive!”). Let us forgive, because everywhere, “in our parishes, in communities, in associations and movements, in short, everywhere where there are Christians, everyone […] [can] find an oasis of mercy.”
The Way of the Heart, in step four, describes this in more detail, but also shows the fraternal nature of this sacrament:
” Our Good Father welcomes us with our hands full of debris and waste, of wounds suffered and inflicted on others. We come forward aware of the harm we have done and caused ourselves. We come before the Father because we accept that we have sinned and because we trust in his mercy. By allowing ourselves to be embraced by Him, we open ourselves to repentance and forgiveness.
Those who have experienced forgiveness live differently, relating to God, to others, to themselves, and to creation in a new way. They do not live in fear of damaging their self-image, of showing their weakness, of being harmed, or of losing their dignity. They relate to others with a new freedom that comes from the conviction of being welcomed and forgiven by the Father. The person who allows himself to be embraced by the Father … brings life to the environment in which he lives. … forgiveness is a sacrament, a feast, a celebration of the new life that God gives us in his mercy.” The Way of the Heart, Step 4.
Follow the compass of Hope, and allow yourself to be reconciled with God and with your brothers and sisters!
Bettina Raed
Vice International Director
Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network