It serves to undo the acts of the past and free us from their consequences. Without being forgiven we would be like the sorcerer's apprentice who did not know the magic formula to break the spell. But if we are forgiven we can start living again.
And if we forgive, we give the other person the ability to start over again, to begin something new. Contrary to revenge, forgiveness is unpredictable, and involves the liberation of revenge.
The Jewish philosopher recognizes that "the discoverer of the role of forgiveness in human affairs was Jesus of Nazareth."even if he did so in a religious context.
It should be noted, from the perspective of the Christian faith, that also Jesus "discovered" to us how forgiveness is part of the great divine power; and that, human forgiveness, after all, is the image of divine forgiveness, it always has divine roots.
In his homily on Palm Sunday (10-IV-2022), Pope Francis observed that on Calvary two mentalities are confronted. In the Gospel, in fact, the words of the crucified Jesus are opposed to those of his executioners. In them it sounds like a refrain: "Save yourself.". On the bosses' side: "Let him save himself, if he be the Christ of God, the elect." (Lk 23:35). The soldiers said: "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." (v. 37). And even one of the evildoers repeats it: "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself!" (v. 39).
But Pope Francis reminds us, "To save oneself, to take care of oneself, to think of oneself; not of others, but only of one's own health, of one's own success, of one's own interests; of having, of power, of appearing. Save yourself: this is the refrain of humanity that crucified the Lord.".
It is Francis who invites us to think about it, as a warning of how far the paradoxical and at the same time "logical" (with the logic of the self) individualistic mentality can go: to show that you cannot save yourself (which is what we all supposedly seek), we crucify you.
But, the Pope continues, "the mentality of self is opposed to the mentality of God; saving oneself clashes with the self-giving Savior.". He claims nothing for himself; he does not even defend or justify himself. He prays to the Father and has mercy on the good thief. He is only interested in the opposite of saving himself: "Father, forgive them" (v. 34).
Francis advises us to dwell on those words that Jesus pronounces nailed to the scaffold of humiliation, which increase the intensity of his gift, to the point of becoming "per-don".
Indeed, the very word seems to say so: "forgive" is more than just giving, it is giving in the most perfect way, which is to give by involving oneself to himself, to give completely.
Consequently: "Let us look at Jesus on the Cross and understand that we have never received a more loving embrace. Let us look at the Crucifix and say: Thank you Jesus: you love me and forgive me always, even when I find it hard to love and forgive myself.".
We find it difficult to love and forgive ourselves, because our non-divine part (merely human or sometimes a bit subhuman) prevents us from seeing reality, that reality that would imply accepting ourselves as we are: little but received from God; more: children of God.
Also to their enemies: "In the most difficult moment, Jesus lives his most difficult commandment: love your enemies.". When someone has offended us, it is common for us to lick our wounds.
And then, says Francisco, "Jesus teaches us not to stay there, but to react. To break the vicious circle of evil and remorse. To react to the nails of life with love, to the blows of hatred with the caress of forgiveness.". Therefore, if we want to prove our belonging to Christ, "let's look at how we behave towards those who have hurt us.".
Jesus' forgiveness teaches us to forgive: "The Lord asks us to respond, not as we do or as everyone else does, but as He does with us. He asks us to break the chain of "I love you if you love me; I am your friend if you are my friend; I help you if you help me.". No, compassion and mercy for everyone, because God sees in each one a child. He does not divide us into good and bad, friend and foe.
Pope Francis this Lent 2022
Three more things forgiveness accomplishes:
Let's look at them one by one.
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Francis interprets that Jesus spent the hours on the cross with these words on his lips and in his heart. God never tires of forgiving. It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness, but He never tires of forgiving. That is why he advises us not to tire of asking for forgiveness. Neither the priests to administer it, with the sacrament of the confessionnor every Christian to receive it and bear witness to it. Let us not grow weary of God's forgiveness.
It is as if we are being told: God continually forgives so that we will allow ourselves to be forgiven and forgiveHe forgives, even continually. God always forgives and forgives everything, because it is his way of serving that brings us an incomparable peace (Francis will remind us again on Holy Thursday). And so we can serve more and better.
When it is said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, this does not mean that they did not premeditate. But that this "because they don't know" denotes "that ignorance of the heart that all sinners have.". "When violence is used, nothing is known of God, who is Father, nor of others, who are brothers.
Only one person welcomes that phrase. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."The good thief (Lk 23:42). And Jesus answers him: "Today you will be with me in paradise." (v. 43). Behold," the successor of Peter points out the miracle of God's forgivenessThe last request of a man condemned to death was transformed into the first canonization in history.
Right. Holiness is attained by asking for forgiveness and forgiving. And so "with God you can always live again"..
Asking for forgiveness, the Pope will say a few days later at the Easter Vigil, requires the courage to let oneself be forgiven and the willingness to change, leaving behind the works of evil. Forgiveness will make us better able to serve everyone with a clear conscience. (Holy Thursday)
Francis also said it in Floriana, Malta (April 3, 2022): For God there is no such word as "irretrievable". And the one who experiences his forgiveness is the one who truly knows him.
Mr. Ramiro Pellitero Iglesias
Professor of Pastoral Theology
Faculty of Theology
University of Navarra
Published in "Church and new evangelization".
