1. PRAYER

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:32 NLT

Lord, I often find it challenging to be kind to those who have wounded me. I struggle to be friendly, let alone to forgive. Please help me find comfort in knowing I do not have to rely on my strength for things like this. Instead, it is You who I get to rely on, so please soften my heart and help me to forgive. Amen.

2. MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/H_uc-uQ3Nkc?si=nLYHR90_UZyO6Vqo

3. SONG

https://youtu.be/km9FkMAf4kk?si=uxeDYP3C6pbcbLcl

4. NARRATIVE

Franciscan friar and author Richard Rohr teaches that forgiveness is "the religious word for letting go" and the very heartbeat of the Gospel. He emphasizes that it is a radical, rule-breaking practice of letting go of the hope for a different or better past. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Rohr’s core teachings on forgiveness include:

Accepting Reality: Forgiveness is not just about isolated offenses, but forgiving reality and the present moment for being broken, imperfect, and messy. [1, 2]

Transcending Victimhood: Clinging to the pain of the past creates an abused consciousness that offers a false sense of moral superiority but ultimately destroys trust and love. [1]

No "Heavenly Garbage Dump": In Rohr's view (drawing from his book Everything Belongs), forgiveness does not mean the pain simply disappears; rather, "we forgive it for being there". [1]

A Divine Technology: In Breathing Under Water, Rohr describes forgiveness as the "beginning, the middle, and the end" of the Gospel's transformative message. It breaks down the meritocracy of earning grace and opens us up to unmerited Divine love. [1, 2]

To explore more of his daily meditations and resources on this topic, visit the Center for Action and Contemplation. [1, 2]

The Power of Forgiveness

Friday, September 16, 2022

Father Richard Rohr writes of the power of Jesus’ teachings and lived example of forgiveness:

Among the most powerful of human experiences is to give or to receive forgiveness. I am told that two-thirds of the teaching of Jesus is directly or indirectly about this mystery of forgiveness: God’s breaking of God’s own rules. That’s not surprising, because forgiveness is probably the only human action that reveals three goodnesses simultaneously! When we forgive, we choose the goodness of the other over their faults, we experience God’s goodness flowing through ourselves, and we also experience our own goodness in a way that surprises us. That is an awesome coming together of power, both human and divine.

Eventually, I believe, we will all forgive one another because we have been forgiven, but let’s do it now and not wait until later. Let’s ask for the grace to let go of those grudges and hurts to which we cling. How else will we ever be free?

If we don’t “get” forgiveness, we’re missing the whole mystery. We are still living in a world of meritocracy, of quid-pro-quo thinking, of performance and behavior that earns an award. Forgiveness is the great thawing of all logic, reason, and worthiness. It is a melting into the mystery of God as unearned love, unmerited grace, the humility and powerlessness of a Divine Lover.

Without radical and rule-breaking forgiveness—received and given—there will be no reconstruction of anything. It alone breaks down our worldview of trying to buy and sell grace. Grace is certainly the one gift that must always be free, perfectly free, in order for it to work. Without forgiveness, there will be no future. We have hurt one another in too many historically documented and remembered ways. The only way out of the present justified hatreds of the world is grace.

An eagerness and readiness to love is the ultimate freedom and future. When we’ve been included in the spaciousness of divine love, there is just no room for human punishment, vengeance, rash judgment, or calls for retribution. We certainly see none of this small-mindedness in the Risen Christ after his own rejection, betrayal, and cruel death; we don’t see it even from his inner circle, or in the whole New Testament. I really cannot imagine a larger and more spacious way to live. Jesus’ death and resurrection event was a game changer for history.

The Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a positive future, a future of redemption instead of retribution. He does not eliminate or punish mistakes. He uses them for transformative purposes.

People formed by such love are indestructible.

Forgiveness might just be the very best description of what God’s goodness engenders in humanity.

References:

Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2001, 2020), 155, 158–159, 162; and

5.MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/RNeLU-5yR04?si=GDx-QYMkbeJ1JZh_

6. SHARING

Happy birthday

https://youtu.be/_QfXpQqRRW8?si=6W8gfbkR4Wi1JlMB

7. PRAYER AND INTENTIONS

So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” – Luke 17:3-4 NLT

Lord, it is so hard at times to put aside my hurt and anger toward those who sin against me. I ask that You please help me to remember that Your Word says I should forgive seventy times seven times, as You have done for me. I strive to be more like You every day and ask that You give me the strength to forgive even under these painful circumstances so I may show Your love to others. Amen.