Forgive Yourselves, As I have Forgiven You

Forgive Yourselves, As I Have Forgiven You

Eileen Renders

   We Catholics who are faithful to the word of God become the pillars of the church. By that statement, I am saying we have learned many life lessons, and have found the greater meaning of life to become a faithful servant to Christ. To convey to our children and grandchildren an example that can spare them the disillusionment and regret of using our will in choosing some of Satan’s temptations. Desiring luxury, money, sex appeal, new cars, compliments, and so on, and so on.

   Realizing at some point in our lives that we often made shallow, meaningless, and selfish choices, we also begin to realize the greatest sin of all that we have been committing; that is the hurt that we have caused our Creator, our God, and our Savior. At that point, we make a 180-degree turnaround, and at a fairly early time in our life as well.

   Committed to God, we faithfully attend the Sacraments, follow the Commandments, and work toward becoming pleasing in the eyes of God. We teach our children a bit as God did for us, through good examples.

   This does not, however, complete the perfect picture as we still have a demon pursuing us. That demon lies deep within our souls. Although God in his infinite love and mercy forgives all who profess sincerity and retain regret, and sorrow for having offended Him time and again, it is we who find it difficult within our hearts to forgive ourselves. We often desire to punish ourselves, and this is a big mistake. God has forgiven us! It is Satan once again who lurks in the corner of our hearts and is attempting to keep us from God.

   Satan’s mission is to whisper into our hearts and minds that we have offended God greatly, and He does not want us. We are not good enough to go to God, and we unfortunately agree with Satan. The truth is that none of us are good enough to go to God. Yet God Himself has provided a way for us to remove sin through the sacrament of Reconciliation when we are sincerely sorrowful for having offended Him. He wants us to be able to come to Him because of His great love and mercy for us. He created us out of love and came to Earth to sacrifice His body and blood to save us. If that is not true love, what is? We must love our neighbor as we love ourselves for the love of God.