Living “as if….”

When we receive the sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), we are telling God two things – “I am sorry for my sin. And I intend not to do it again.” When we ask forgiveness of our brother or sister, we should be saying the same thing. We truly intend not to offend them again, and we may even have a plan to follow, a different set of choices we can make, whereby it is less likely that we will offend them. What about when we are being asked to forgive another person? We might say “why should I forgive when I know it’s just going to happen again?” Living as a Christian is living “as if” things will be different. This is Christian HOPE. It is living with the HOPE that perhaps, this time, things will truly be different between us. Jesus said to forgive “seventy times seven times”, in other words, always and without ceasing. To live a Christian life means to forgive someone and live as if they (and we!) are still able to grow in goodness and holiness. Incidentally, this also applies to forgiving the Church, or one of the Church’s ministers. Living a life of Christian hope is a virtue – it takes practice. Let’s practice it this week. ----Fr. Jim