Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

If you are employed, have friends, have family members, or interact with society in any way (yeah - pretty much all of us) you have undoubtedly been offended. Holding on to what may be an unforgiving spirit or even a root of bitterness can, and will be more damaging to you than to the other person. A forgiving spirit is so important that even the American Psychological Association provides the following: " Forgiveness involves willfully putting aside feelings of resentment toward someone who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed you in some way. Forgiveness is not merely accepting what happened or ceasing to be angry. Rather, it involves a voluntary transformation of your feelings, attitudes, and behavior, so that you are no longer dominated by resentment and can express compassion, generosity, or the like toward the person who wronged you." And on a much higher authority we read from the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'" Matthew 18:21-22

Spend a few moments today and ask yourself, and God, if you are harboring an unforgiving spirit toward anyone, and leave it at the foot of His cross. He has forgiven us - it's incumbent on us to forgive others.