June 19, 2025

Matthew 6:7-15

Today Jesus continues to teach us how to pray.  First, he says to pray from the heart, and not to babble with many words, because God the Father already knows what we need before we ask. Jesus teaches us a simple prayer, the Lord’s prayer, which has endless entry points for contemplation.

One important point that Jesus highlights after the prayer is forgiveness. If we forgive others for things they have done, God will forgive us, he says. But if we do not forgive others, neither will God forgive us. Why is this?  If we get stuck in resentment and grudges, brooding over hurts and slights and even horrible crimes, we are limiting our view, we are not seeing as God sees the world, and we are unable to move on and heal.  In every situation requiring forgiveness, there are two sides: the wrong that was done, and the one who was harmed or took offense. The perpetrator is also a human being, subject to error and blindness, who made mistakes, as we have all to one extent or another made mistakes. Have we not all been misguided, angry, or selfish at times? And when politics get divided or ugly, what is the path to forgiveness?

Forgiveness is in a way a mystery to meditate on. On the one hand there are boundaries that were violated.  On the other hand, there is the one who needs to move past it. Sometimes in pondering forgiveness, there may be a lot of anger to process. Acknowledge it and offer it up to God, and be freed of it.