Forgive as He forgives

A recent gospel deals with a very important topic, forgiveness. St. Matthew says, "Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. "

God calls us to forgive. We go to Mass and ask for the Lord's mercy. We pray the Our Father. We have the sign of Peace, which has a reason for taking place before Communion. All of those take place so we don't go to Communion angry or not forgiving who needs to be forgiven.

In the Our Father, we pray to forgive our trespasses. That means those who have hurt us, that person who cut in front of us or said something about us that was not nice. In the sign of Peace, we offer blessing to our neighbor. Shouldn't that mean something? Shouldn't forgiveness be so easy? Yet it's not. The world is so full of anger, of hate, of murder, of bitter grudges, and people who don't want to forgive.

None of us is sure of tomorrow, so be that person. Be that person who forgives before it's too late. Be that person who spreads peace. Be that person who shows God's mercy and love and forgive as He has forgiven us.