In the “Our Father”, Jesus emphasizes seven petitions to the Heavenly Father. One of them is asking forgiveness: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” He adds a commentary to this petition. He highlights the fact that we must forgive our neighbours in our daily life. We need to know that God is merciful and forgives all our sins if we ask Him. But there is one condition, namely, to forgive those who have done us wrong. The essential thing we need in order to forgive others as a matter of course is to face the truth about ourselves. It means that we self-critically admit our trespasses against God. We did not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, we do not care about the salvation of our own souls, we boycott the truth and the reality of death. We bury our heads in the sand like an ostrich to avoid the thought of God’s judgment and then heaven or hell which is in store for us after death. No one will return from there. Time is precious and we live in indifference, or even in rebellion against God; we do not keep His commandments, we do not even know them or seek to know them. We are seduced by vanity and lies, and we embrace it to our own detriment. These sins breed depression, hatred, isolation, diseases, unsolvable problems, broken families, conflict situations, yet we do not want to admit the truth or see our guilt too. We do wrong to others by our carelessness, envy, jealousy, anger, pride – and not only that. We should also be aware of our sinful thoughts, because there is nothing covered that will not be revealed. If we take such a critical view of ourselves and become conscious of how wretched we are, it must not make us fall into depression or despair but rather look to the cross of Christ with confidence. Jesus paid for all our sins. And He wants us to come in spirit to His cross, and not only once during the day but every time we sin by thought or feeling or with our eyes. We should at once call a betrayal a betrayal, a sin a sin, and ask for forgiveness. Jesus forgives us at that very moment, and so does the Heavenly Father, but there is one condition: we also must forgive our neighbours.

To indulge in self-pity, to think of what others should do for us and did not, or to nourish bitterness is a deceit which seduces us. Facing the truth requires extreme self-denial, putting aside our false feelings and asking ourselves: And what about me? What is my fault? Or if I am too much absorbed in self-pity, I can think about the suffering and humiliation of Jesus, and suffer with Him at least for a moment. It often helps to break free from lies. If you constantly think reproachfully of someone, you should ask yourself categorically: And what did I do for him? Did I pray for him, did I fast for him? Did I encourage him when he needed it? Jesus says clearly: “Whatever you want others to do to you, do also to them.” And if we do good to our neighbour and he pays us back with evil, we should rejoice. But we first need to abide in God’s Word and to enter into union with Christ in prayer. Otherwise we will not rejoice but rather hate others and revenge ourselves on them. This is a natural reaction.

Jesus did nothing wrong and yet He was humiliated and condemned to death. He had no sins. We can have our purgatory already here if we live by faith and forgive our enemies in our heart. The whole problem is not to think of the wrong done to me or of my enemies persecuting me but rather to become aware of my sin and to give thanks to God that I can suffer now and that I can forgive to those who persecute me, just as Jesus did on the cross. He said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Being aware of our own sinfulness, we should be really happy if we can suffer for the sake of Christ. If others humiliate us, hurt us or spit in our face when we do good or defend the truth and the law of God, we collect treasures for ourselves in heaven which no one will take from us.

We are obliged to forgive; however, forgiveness does not mean unwise soft-heartedness which results in the moral disintegration of the family, Christianity and the nation. It would be a deceit. Let us be aware that we live in anti-Christian times when cunning people speak about obedience, humility or forgiveness and manipulate honest people into becoming instruments of their own self-destruction as well as destruction of others. The truth can easily be distorted. Pharisees and hypocrites cleverly distort everything, e.g. they deceive people into having sympathy for sexual deviants, which finally results in the man becoming a deviant himself. But they happily quote the Scripture about forgiveness, mercy and love. And here we should know that we must also be wise and prudent and walk in the Spirit of the Word of God. The devil tempted Christ in the wilderness. He quoted the Scripture to Him but in a different spirit. Jesus said to him: “Away with you, Satan!”

Our struggle is for the salvation of souls, our struggle is for the defence of the truth, and we should be ready even to die for its sake. We need to be absolutely clear in our minds because the devil can cleverly distort all verses of Scripture. Therefore, first of all we need to stand on the solid foundation, which is our personal relationship to Christ. Without true prayer, the spirit of lies will lead us by the nose.

An example of unwise soft-heartedness from Great Britain: A social worker visited the household of a decent woman. The woman made some tea, next time she offered her a cake, and when the social worker came for the third time, she took the woman’s only daughter. Another woman was visited by a social worker, too. But she picked up a broom and chased the social worker down the stairs, showering abuse on her. The result: no social worker dared since then to visit that household with the purpose of stealing the children.

Of course, the woman can then forgive the social worker’s evil intention but first she must show her just categorical attitude to evil. Then she can forgive her and say: “Lord, I forgive but I was obliged in conscience to defend my daughter. I forgive this person for being blind and working in an evil structure. I don’t know why she is blind; I am blind in certain things too, so please forgive her and forgive me. I forgive her too.”

Download: Reflection on Mt 6:14-15