Thursday of Lent III - Penance
Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because the one who “forgives” you - out of love - assumes the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice. The price you pay for your own liberation through another sacrifice is that you in turn must be willing to liberate in the same way, irrespective of the consequences to yourself.
Dag Hammerskjold was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He remains the youngest person to have held the Secretary-General post, having been only 47 years old when he was appointed in 1953. The quote is taken from his work, Markings, 1964.
