On the threshold of the Eucharist, the Church invites us to confess the sin that inhabits us nd therefore – more positively – to recognize the foreseeing love of God that offers pardon. The verb to forgive, in Hebrew, is mahol and has the same three letters (consonants) forming the word for bread, lehem. God’s forgiveness is therefore a nourishing bread; a bread that must be received and then broken to satiate others. Whoever refuses to accept the bread of forgiveness finds himself chewing a destructive grudge.  We remember the bread of forgiveness of Fra’ Christopher, in I Promessi Sposi.  At the end of novel, turning to Renzo and Lucia, he leaves, as a sign of forgiveness, the bread he had received as a gift, and affirms: “I leave this to you…; keep it, show it to the your children. They will come into a sad world, in sad times, in the midst of pride and provocations: tell them always to forgive, always. Everything Everything…“. Mercy is the key to healing all human wickedness. Why is forgiveness so crucial in our life? Because, within our daily experience, we know evil; Evil, we can neither deny nor remove. Evil exists, it is a reality that touches us and everyone.  But how to forgive? To attain forgiveness, four mistakes must be avoided.  (1) heartless forgiveness. Jesus, in the Gospel (cf. Mt 18), invites his own disciples to forgive always and wholeheartedly. If we don’t forgive with the heart, we cultivate the deadly seed of rancour. Grudges have incredible strength and become a violent and destructive force, even after years. (2) Forgiveness without history. In history, we separate, and in history we are called to be reconciled. It takes time, though, “gradualness”. Forgiveness cannot be immediate (see the history of Joseph in Gen 37-50). (3 Forgiveness without a word. Forgiveness implies the gesture, the word, because it is an event between two persons; it is never a solitary event. (4) Forgiveness without grace. For the Christian, forgiveness is not a simple rebalancing of broken ties. We need God’s grace to experience forgiveness, to call those who are offended, who have become an enemy. There is an important aspect of Christian forgiveness, which highlights the need for grace. In Christianity it is not the executioner who has to convert but also the victim. In what sense? The victim is called to transform hate into love, vengeance into forgiveness; called not to confuse sin with the sinner, distinguishing the evil (which must always be denounced) from whoever did it.  It’s not easy; but it’s what the Gospel requires of anyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb Abbazia di Santa Maria – Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,Prinknash Abbey