"Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray." (Sir 28:2)
This Word of Life is taken from one of the books of the Hebrew Testament written between 180 and 170 BC, by Jesus Ben Sirach, who was a wise man and a scribe, teaching in Jerusalem.
What he taught followed a theme dear to the whole of the Wisdom literature in the Old Testament: God is merciful to sinners and his way of behaving must be imitated by us.
The Lord forgives all our faults because he "is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Psalm 103:8). He overlooks our sins (cf Wisd. 11:23), he forgets them, casting them behind his back (Isa. 38:17). Indeed, writes Ben Sirach, since he knows how small and wretched we are, he "increases his forgiveness".
God forgives because, like any father or mother, he loves his children and so he always and untiringly excuses them, covers their faults, instils confidence and encourages them.
Because God is father and mother, he is not satisfied with just loving and forgiving his sons and daughters. His great desire is that they should treat one another as brothers and sisters, that they get along with one another, care for one another, love one another. A universal family - that is God's great project for the human race. A brotherhood that is stronger than the inevitable divisions, tensions, hard feelings that so easily creep into relationships due to misunderstandings and mistakes.
Families often fall apart because they do not know how to forgive. Long-standing hatreds keep alive the divisions between relatives, social groups and peoples. Sometimes there are even those who teach others not to forget the wrongs done to them, to nurse their wish for revenge... And a bitter resentment poisons the soul and corrodes the heart.
Some imagine that forgiveness is weakness. It is not. It is the expression of extreme courage, authentic love, in its most genuine form because it is the least self-interested. "If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?" says Jesus, because anyone can do this; but you must "Love your enemies" (cf. Matt. 5: 43-47).
We too are asked, having learnt from him, to have the love of a father, and a mother, a merciful love for the people we meet during the day, and especially for those who do something wrong.
And those who are called to live a spirituality of communion, in other words Christian spirituality, the New Testament asks still more: "forgive each other" (Col. 3: 13). Mutual love demands almost a pact among us: to be ready always to forgive one another. Only like this can we contribute to building a universal human family.
"Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray."
These words do not only invite us to forgive; they remind us that forgiveness is a necessary condition for us to be forgiven our own sins. God listens to us and forgives us in the measure that we know how to forgive.
Jesus himself warns us: "the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Matt. 7:2). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matt. 5:7). If your heart is hardened by hatred, it is not even able to recognise and accept the merciful love of God.
How shall we live this Word of Life? Certainly by forgiving immediately anyone with whom we may not yet be reconciled. But this is not enough.
We need to search the most hidden corners of our heart to eliminate even the merest indifference, lack of kind feeling, every attitude of superiority, of not caring for anyone we meet.
Still more, we must take preventive measures. And so every morning I can look with new eyes upon those I meet - at home, in school, at work, in the shops - ready to pass over anything that may not agree with my way of doing things, ready not to judge, but trusting them, to hope always, to believe always.
I approach each person with this total amnesty in my heart, with this universal pardon. I forget entirely the failings of others, and cover everything with love. And throughout the day I try to make up for some rudeness, or impatient outburst, by saying sorry or showing friendship.
In place of an attitude of instinctive rejection of the other, I try to put an attitude of complete welcome, mercy without limits, of total forgiveness, sharing all, and attentiveness to the other's needs.
And then I too, when I offer my prayer to the Father, and especially when I ask forgiveness of my failures, will witness my requests being heard. I will be able to say with complete trust: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." (Matt. 6:12)