”I’m sorry”……There is great power found in those words…There is also great healing experienced by the one who has the courage to say it…..”Please forgive me - I am sorry”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus telling his friends a story about forgiveness…How a man had a huge debt and a King forgave it because he asked him….Then the same man was owed a debt and could not find it in his heart to forgive…..How easy it is to forget…That is what jumped out at me as I read the gospel today….In life what you will find more times than not, if a person experiences something themselves, they are quicker to understand others going through the same thing….This has a lot to do with our ability to forgive…..If you have ever from the bottom of your heart asked God to forgive you your sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation….When someone does something to you and they ask you to forgive them…You have a much easier time accepting their apology….....Why?…...Because you are honest with yourself and know who your are…A sinner…….How easy it is to forget that!…..”His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”……..Humility they say is the foundational virtue of all the virtues…Why?…Because it is the opposite of pride, which is the root of all vices……It takes humility to acknowledge our sins publicly to a Catholic Priest…..And when we are released from the burden of our sins through the mercy of God utilizing Sacramental grace….Its much easier to understand the fallen nature of others…..Why?….Because we share in that fallen nature…Where would we be without God’s grace and mercy?

“Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes”

Mercy is undeserved…Have you ever thought about that?…..When you get right down to it….No one besides Our Lady and Jesus belong in heaven - Not even St Joseph!…..It’s only because of God’s mercy that we are “given a shot” at eternal life……But do we take that gift for granted?…….As a father of five young children, I make it a point that if I make a mistake with my kids, I always apologize to them personally - I go out of my way to do this - To teach them the importance of saying - “I am sorry”…..There is such power in those simple words…How a hostile situation can become defused by saying simply….”I am sorry”….This is how we maintain life long friendships, this is how we build a strong marriage….And this is how frankly we live a healthy life - To acknowledge that we make mistakes and to seek out forgiveness to rectify any harm we have done - This only benefits us!…But it always benefits the world around us too……This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so important…We all make mistakes - We are all sinners….EVERYONE…..I make it a point to go to Confession with a Catholic Priest at least once a month….I cannot express the deep peace I get from that practice……Our world today I believe because it does not know the kind of peace I just describe, which is a grace, suffers deeply - You see it all around us…And because time does not heal deep wounds that only God can heal Sacramentally, humanity projects forward its pain…..As I stated, time does not heal wounds, it only makes them fester…This is why we MUST go to the divine physician…Sin results in wounds and only God has the cure…..And just like any physical wound, if not addressed, they lead to other problems in our life…..To simply say these words...…”Bless me Father for I have sinned”….Those words can eliminate so much hurt in this world….And also prevent wounded people from wounding others…..We can not “cure” ourselves….Jesus came and walked among us for one reason….”To take away the sins of the world”…That begins with us saying…”I’m sorry”…...which leads to….”Bless me Father for I have sinned…which leads to the ability to forgive others who say "I’m sorry" to you.

"Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus answered, I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times”

Today we hear in the Gospel at Mass a story about a man who was forgiven a huge debt but would not forgive a small debt owed to him…Before we are critical of this man, maybe we should all take a good look at ourself…Do we do that?….I ask that because its very easy too……Only when we understand God’s undeserved mercy given to us…and to understand that is to experience it…..You cannot “read” your way to that understanding….When you have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation…..YOU KNOW IT…....This is not some “psychological illusion”….This lived experience helps us to forgive others…….Our Lord is very clear in Scripture…."Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”…This is easier said then done as we all know…That is why we need Sacramental grace…If we have not experienced forgiveness ourselves…Its going to be real tough to forgive others……So many problems could be solved by simply saying…”I’m sorry”……There is great power found in those words…There is also great healing experienced by the one who has the courage to say it…..”Please forgive me - I am sorry”