In Choosing Forgiveness

We Allow the Light of Christ to Radiate

Outward from the Inner Depths of Our Souls

We can look to the Saints who have gone before us to offer us inspiration, and to help us to choose forgiveness. St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, offers us a powerful witness before he was stoned to death, by his last words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) Another model of forgiveness is St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr, who before taking her last breath, forgave her assailant, Alessandro Serenelli, after he stabbed her fourteen times. Similarly, St. Pope John Paul II, after being shot and seriously wounded, visited his assailant in prison to express his forgiveness. We can also look to the words of St. John Vianney, who once said, “the saints have no hatred, no bitterness, they forgive everything, and they think they deserve much more for their offenses against God.”

In choosing forgiveness we allow the light of Christ to radiate outward from the inner depths of our souls. We can cling to the Cross and unite our immense suffering to Jesus by drawing closer and closer to Him. He is the Wounded-healer and He can heal our wounds, but only if we let him by allowing the inner working of the Holy Spirit to transform our deepest hurts into a fountain of love and mercy. The gateway of our hearts will open to receive peace as we are set free from the yoke of bondage, set free of the self-prison that we create for ourselves when we are held captive by our own pride.

St. Teresa of Calcutta has said, “If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive,” and as Christians we should truly strive to put such words into practice in our everyday lives because only forgiveness can set us free.  Source: www.wordonfire.org