Italy
It is fundamental to rediscover every day the emotion that comes from forgiving with a sincere heart.
Knowing how to forgive requires an act of faith and an act of hope that, to be lived in fullness, presuppose not so much spontaneity—very difficult in forgiveness—but a moment of great intelligence.
And this applies not only in the personal and family sphere, but also at the level of world history.
Russians and Ukrainians, Israelis and Iranians, and so on all the “pieces” of war that seem never to end, will be able to leave their balances of fear and death only with the courage of a mutual act of faith.
Forgiving sincerely, in fact, is placing trust in the other, striving to look not at the past, with its offenses and misunderstandings, but at the possibility of a future of peace.
Just as God does with us, forgiving us not only as the One who forgets our sins, but as the One who invites us to look ahead, beyond ourselves, pointing us toward new rainbows and new horizons.
Yes! God forgives sincerely: He breaks the ropes that hold back the boat of life, letting it set sail toward new dawns and a new future, with the wind of love swelling the sails, giving energy and courage to our hearts.
He forgives with an act of faith in us, expanding His heart to infinity, while we so often forgive, yes, but keep in our memory a bit of resentment and mistrust because, even while forgiving, we cannot manage to trust; whereas forgiving sincerely requires precisely this—and this, let us admit it, is truly difficult.
Difficult because we must wager on people, just as God wagers on us, with an act of faith that, purifying our heart, allows us to rediscover the emotion and wonder of a new “virginity” of our memory.
Just as the prophet writes: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
In this way, our forgiveness and our peace will not merely be a truce between contenders who pause to catch their breath while trying to stockpile weapons and ammunition for the next clashes.
No! For us Christians it cannot be like this! Forgiveness is either there or it is not, just like the mercy of God which is always there, regardless of our moods and the dark clouds of our hearts.
Today, then, let us pray that this true and sincere forgiveness may illuminate relationships both among ourselves and among nations, where unfortunately peace still seems a dream.
Let us allow ourselves to be reconciled with God, giving Him space for His liberating action within us.
The beauty of forgiveness is to “put out into the deep”, to breathe the pure and ever-new air of those who do not stop at the past tense, “I have forgiven”, but accept the challenge of conjugating in the present continuous, “I am forgiving”.
Image created digitally by spazio + spadoni
