March 19, 2025

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Last week, I was asked to close the confirmation class’s retreat with benediction. As a brief teaching, I decided to talk a bit about the Lord’s Prayer. You may remember that the Gospels tells that the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus did this by teaching them, what we have come to call, the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus begins by telling them to say, “Our Father.” He wanted them to realize that God is their father. We are all to being to pray by saying “Our Father.”

Jesus continues this prayer with praise of God the Father, “who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” Jesus then told them to turn to our God, our Father, and ask for forgiveness. Jesus knew how loving God is and that he is willing to forgive us for our sins. In the Old Testament, we read often that God is loving and forgiving, always ready to lift us up and forgive us. As we enter each time of prayer, we must begin by seeking God’s forgiveness.

Then they realized that Jesus wanted them and all of us to be like God, a forgiving people. So, in this prayer, Jesus tells us to declare that we must be forgiving. This becomes a challenge to be that kind of forgiving person. So, in the prayer, we are to say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are truly saying to the Lord, “Lord God, you should treat me as I treat others.”

So, Jesus often would teach how important forgiveness is for those who would be his disciples. Forgiveness is central to our Catholic faith. This is our dedication as followers of Jesus. Lent becomes a perfect time for all of us through our prayer and our mortification of Lent to be transformed into forgiving people. Jesus will always be our role model, our paragon. I know that every time I look at the cross of Jesus,I can hear his voice, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.” It’s such a powerful example for us that the voice from the cross – the voice of suffering and death – forgives. Jesus demonstrates for us that forgiveness, only forgiveness, makes our world what it should be – not violence, revenge or grudges.

Pope Francis, writing in his autobiography, “Hope,” tells us “Forgiveness is not betrayal and is not weakness. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants is just like joining up with them.” St. John Paul II teaches us that forgiveness is a profound act of love that liberates the offender and the offended.

The Church teaches us that Christ entrusted the power of forgiveness to the apostles which continues to us in the sacrament of reconciliation – confession. The first thing we should do as we prepare to go to confession is to offer a long and fervent prayer of gratitude to our God for his forgiveness of sin. God cares about us; God loves us even in our sins, and He always ready to forgive. Each time we experience confession, we must never forget that our loving Lord wants to walk with us, wants to forgive us. God wants us to find conversion to a new life. He wants us always ready to become a saint, always ready to live well.

Forgiveness is first and foremost a gift from God. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that God’s mercy is His greatest attribute, and that divine forgiveness restores the sinner to grace.