9/27/2023 0 Comments Forgive us our trespasses movie![]() Paul echoes the Lord’s words, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him if your enemy is thirsty, give him something to drink … ” (Rom 12:20). Did not Jesus say to us, “…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44)? St. ![]() In making that request of Our Heavenly Father, we are on good ground. And more than that, we are asking for the grace to forgive those who have harmed us whether in public or in private, whether by malicious and false speech or by treachery and betrayal – or one of the other forms of inhumane behavior. What we are really asking is for the grace not to engage in it ourselves. Here we are not necessarily asking God to protect us from it. When we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” we are asking (among other things) to be delivered from this culture of comeuppance. Each of us is one tweet away from public denunciation and loss of reputation. Perhaps as never before people suffer from anxiety, loneliness and isolation. It also doesn’t take a scientific survey for us to see that today’s angry and unforgiving culture isn’t making people happy. What’s more, harsh attitudes and rhetoric are often not reserved only for public figures unforgiving attitudes and words can easily spill over into one’s personal and professional relationships. ![]() As the late Cardinal Francis George aptly observed, contemporary culture “permits everything and forgives nothing.” And it’s all too easy for us to be swept up into this culture of finger-pointing, defamation, calumny and retaliation. The cynicism and lack of compassion so characteristic of our times are painfully evident. We live in a culture that’s often angry and unforgiving. Take, for example, the words, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We may be eager to be forgiven but less eager to forgive others.Īnd that shouldn’t surprise us. Did you ever notice how quickly we sometimes pray the Our Father? So quickly, in fact, that we may even fail to consider what we’re asking of Our Heavenly Father.
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