Chapter 8 - And forgive us our Trespasses, as we forgive those who Trespass against us

The sense of the fifth petition is expressed in these words, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Who of us is not indebted to Divine Justice on account of his sins? We are not only debtors to God, but insolvent debtors. If He did not remit our debts, it would be impossible for us to discharge them. His goodness inclines Him to remit them, provided we ask Him; but in the prayer He has dictated, He imposes a condition so just that we cannot refuse it. It often happens, that even as we offend God, so our neighbor offends us, and becomes a debtor to us, as we are to God. If we forgive our neighbor, if we remit the debt at his request, if we retain no resentment, no ill-will toward him, God on His part, has promised to grant us the pardon of our offences, to remit the debts we have contracted towards Him, and to remember them no more against us. But He has promised it only on this condition; and He so rigorously requires us to fulfill it, that He has made it a law that we shall not ask the forgiveness of our sins except in proportion as we forgive our neighbor's. "Forgive us as we forgive: " that is to say evidently, do not forgive us if we do not forgive; require Thy rights of us in all severity, if we require ours the same. But if we are indulgent, and disposed to pardon; if when our neighbor expresses his repentance, and begs us to forget the wrong or the trouble he has caused, we renounce all thought of revenge, all rancor even, and become sincerely reconciled to him, God will do the same by us: He will show Himself an indulgent Father to His guilty children, and will restore us to His favor. Is not the condition just? Is it not even infinitely advantageous? Our brothers are our equals by nature, but what are we compared with God? A mere nothing before the Infinite Being. However great may be the offence of our neighbor, what is it compared with that of which we are guilty toward the Divine Majesty? Christ estimated the death of our brother at a hundred farthings, and ours at ten thousand talents; but He made this valuation only to touch our imagination, for there is absolutely no comparison between the two debts. Has the resentment, which we pretend it would be just to hold against our neighbor, any proportion to that which God has a right to exercise over us? Is our neighbor as powerless to give us satisfaction as we are to satisfy the Divine Justice? What good results to us if God forgives, and what evil if He does not forgive! Weigh well all these considerations, and you will conclude that God could not put our reconciliation with Him on better terms. Do not regard as worthless the consolation of being able to say at death, I have forgiven Lord, and I trust upon Thy word, that Thou wilt forgive me. But the laws of the world you say, my interests even, are opposed to my forgiving. Your interests! Have you any greater interest than that of obtaining the mercy of God? Were it necessary for that to sacrifice your wealth, your happiness, your life even, could you balance it? The sentence has been pronounced, "He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy." Will you live and die with the assurance of experiencing a like judgment? The laws of the world! What are the laws of the world to the Christian, who should recognize no other law than the gospel? Consider the two precepts of Christ which immediately follow His prayer, "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." First precept, infinitely favorable to you. "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you." Second precept, infinitely terrible to you. Do not allege either the world or your own interest as an excuse. The obstacle that hinders is your pride; and that is the source of all your sins against God. It is that which God wishes to crush, in commanding you to forgive your brother; it is that which closes your heart against repentance: and it is to soften the heart, to open it to the grace of repentance, that God has prescribed meekness, and indulgence towards your neighbor.

We must not be deceived. Sincere forgiveness of injuries, and cordial love towards our enemies, are the most difficult points in Christian morals. But the difficulty springs not from the depth of the thing itself; it results rather from the little care we take to unite ourselves to God our Father, and to become like Him. God though infinitely great, and offended as He is, has no difficulty in forgiving us, in foregoing his own rights. He even anticipates us, and makes the first advances. Alas! should we ever of ourselves think to return to Him, should we be capable of it, if His grace did not excite us thereto? Yet we who are nothing, to whom in reality nothing is due, we who strictly speaking, cannot complain of any offence, often have great difficulty in forgiving our neighbor, even when he returns of his own accord, acknowledges his wrong, and humiliates himself before us. It costs us still more to make advances, and to invite reconciliation. That is something not to be mentioned. If we have pardoned once, that is a reason for not pardoning the second time, a certain sign that we have not entirely forgotten the injury, and that there is always remaining in the heart a leaven of hatred. Does God treat us in this way? Do we not find in Him again and again the same clemency, after having often and long abused it? Ah! "Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect."

It is on the subject of loving our enemies, that Christ gives us this rule. Let us forgive as He does, without bounds and without measure. Let us not fix any limit beyond which grace is not to be hoped from us. In this respect, let us have the same disposition toward our brothers that God has toward us. Let us remember from that which experience may already have taught us, that as there is no torment equal to that which a proud and vindictive soul suffers, so there is no joy so pure as that which one who pardons tastes; no peace like that of a meek and humble spirit, which no offence can irritate; nor is there any means more efficacious for gaining an easy access to God, for praying to Him with confidence, and obtaining from Him the graces we most need.

- from The Christian Sanctified by the Lord's Prayer, by Father Jean Nicolas Grou