Peter speaks for each one of us in today's Gospel passage when he says, "HOW many times am I supposed to forgive the jerk who keeps sinning? After seven times, if he's still a jerk, what's the point in forgiving him again?"
"No, not seven times," Jesus says, "seventy times that much, which, according to the calculator on my Father's desk in heaven, is infinite."
We'd rather only forgive people if they "go and sin no more." But waiting for their repentance is harmful to us. When we choose to pray "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing," we break the chains of anger that bind us to what they did. We're no longer a victim of the incident that hurt us. The wounds of our heart and spirit are healed, because we receive directly from Jesus the love that was supposed to come from those who sinned against us.
Forgiveness, like love, is a decision, not a feeling. It begins with an honest prayer: "Father, I don't want to forgive them, but I choose to forgive them. I ask You...
