Friday of Lent IV - Mercy
Forgiveness is hard because it involves loving other people in spite of the evil that they have done to us. When we forgive, we don't deny the hurt that we have received. We don't deny that it was wrong. We don't pretend that nothing happened. But we acknowledge that there is more to the offender than the offense. It's that more that we acknowledge when we forgive; it's that more that we love in spite of the offense.
Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Lenten Lunches: Reflections on the Weekday Readings of Lent and Easter Week, © 1995. St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, Ohio.
