How Often Should We Forgive?

8/30/2004 - 4:00 AM PST

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By Father Jonas Abib
Founder Cancao Nova
�Catholic Online 2004

�Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, until seventy times seven� (Matthew 18, 21-22).

Jesus�answer to Peter, �seventy times seven� means �always�, �continuously�. Jesus has always stressed the importance of brotherly admonition and forgiveness to sins in accordance with the law of mercy. The evangelical order to brotherly admonition united to continuous forgiveness is followed by the parable of the merciless servant: �Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest meshouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?� (Matthew 18, 32-33).

This parable is an order all of us have to obey: we always have plenty of opportunity to experience this Law of God�s Kingdom. We must dress the armor of prayer and courage to go into that wondrous adventure of loving and forgiving one another, trust people, tie bonds, and conquer one another�s love, tender friendship, so that we can reach the state of brotherly admonition.

I have no right and no grounds to correct people unless there is a bond of trust, open heart and friendship; the Gospel Law is brotherly admonition, and this is an adventure that comes with time: time for conquering our fellowman�s heart and time to know each other.

Contact

Cancao Nova
http://www.cancaonova.net TX, US
Fr. Jonas Abib - Founder, 817 281-0766

Email

eua@cancaonova.com, vinicius@cancaonova.com

Keywords

Forgiveness, cancao nova, Abib

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