2. Forgiveness! Christ taught us to forgive. He spoke of forgiveness many times and in various ways. When Peter asked him how many times he should forgive his neighbour – ‘up to seven times?’ – Jesus replied that he should forgive ‘seventy times seven’ (Mt 18:21ff). In practice, this means always: indeed, the number ‘seventy’ multiplied by ‘seven’ is symbolic, and signifies, rather than a specific quantity, an incalculable, infinite quantity. In answering the question of how one ought to pray, Christ uttered those magnificent words addressed to the Father: ‘Our Father who art in heaven’; and amongst the petitions that make up this prayer, the last one speaks of forgiveness: ‘Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors’ – that is, those who have wronged us. Finally, Christ himself confirmed the truth of these words on the Cross, when, turning to the Father, he implored: ‘Forgive them!’, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34).
‘Forgiveness’ is a word spoken by a man who has been wronged. Indeed, it is the word of the human heart. In this word of the heart, each of us strives to overcome the barrier of enmity that may separate us from another, seeking to rebuild the inner space of understanding, contact and bond. Christ taught us through the words of the Gospel, and above all through his own example, that this space opens up not only before our fellow human beings, but at the same time before God himself. The Father, who is the God of forgiveness and mercy, desires to act precisely within this space of human forgiveness; he desires to forgive those who are mutually capable of forgiving one another, those who seek to put into practice these words: ‘Forgive us, … as we forgive’.
Forgiveness is a grace which must be contemplated with profound humility and gratitude. It is a mystery of the human heart, which is difficult to expound upon.
5. Christ taught us to forgive. Forgiveness is also indispensable so that God may pose questions to the human conscience, to which He awaits a response in all inner truth.
In this age, when so many innocent people perish at the hands of others, there seems to be a particular need to draw near to each of those who kill, to draw near with forgiveness in our hearts and with the very same question that God, the Creator and Lord of human life, put to the first man who had attempted to take his brother’s life and had taken it away – having taken that which belongs solely to the Creator and Lord of life.
Christ taught us to forgive. He taught Peter to forgive ‘up to seventy times seven’ (Mt 18:22). God himself forgives when man responds to the question addressed to his conscience and his heart with all the inner truth of conversion.
Leaving judgement and sentence in their definitive form to God himself, let us never cease to ask: ‘Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors’.
[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 21 October 1981]
Dialogo e Solstizio
Sep 5, 2026
Written by
don Giuseppe Nespeca
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A space that opens up before us
don Giuseppe Nespeca
Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.The question makes apparent the concern, present in ancient Jewish tradition, over finding a unifying principle in the various formulations of God's will […] Emphasis is placed on the totality of this dedication to God, listing the three faculties that define man in his deep psychological structures: heart, soul and mind. The word mind, diánoia, contains the rational element (Pope Benedict)
La domanda lascia trasparire la preoccupazione, presente nell’antica tradizione giudaica, di trovare un principio unificatore delle varie formulazioni della volontà di Dio […] L’accento è posto sulla totalità di questa dedizione a Dio, elencando le tre facoltà che definiscono l’uomo nelle sue strutture psicologiche profonde: cuore, anima e mente. Il termine mente, diánoia, contiene l’elemento razionale (Papa Benedetto)
A “year” of grace: the period of Christ’s ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, an interval of our life (Pope Francis)
Un “anno” di grazia: il tempo del ministero di Cristo, il tempo della Chiesa prima del suo ritorno glorioso, il tempo della nostra vita (Papa Francesco)
The Church, having before her eyes the picture of the generation to which we belong, shares the uneasiness of so many of the people of our time (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Avendo davanti agli occhi l'immagine della generazione a cui apparteniamo, la Chiesa condivide l'inquietudine di tanti uomini contemporanei (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Addressing this state of mind, the Church testifies to her hope, based on the conviction that evil, the mysterium iniquitatis, does not have the final word in human affairs (Pope John Paul II)
Di fronte a questi stati d'animo la Chiesa desidera testimoniare la sua speranza, basata sulla convinzione che il male, il mysterium iniquitatis, non ha l'ultima parola nelle vicende umane (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Jesus reminds us today that the expectation of the eternal beatitude does not relieve us of the duty to render the world more just and more liveable (Pope Francis)
Gesù oggi ci ricorda che l’attesa della beatitudine eterna non ci dispensa dall’impegno di rendere più giusto e più abitabile il mondo (Papa Francesco)
Those who open to Him will be blessed, because they will have a great reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve them [Pope Francis]
E sarà beato chi gli aprirà, perché avrà una grande ricompensa: infatti il Signore stesso si farà servo dei suoi servi - è una bella ricompensa - nel grande banchetto del suo Regno passerà Lui stesso a servirli [Papa Francesco]
The fool in the Bible, the one who does not want to learn from the experience of visible things, that nothing lasts for ever but that all things pass away, youth and physical strength, amenities and important roles. Making one's life depend on such an ephemeral reality is therefore foolishness (Pope Benedict)
L’uomo stolto nella Bibbia è colui che non vuole rendersi conto, dall’esperienza delle cose visibili, che nulla dura per sempre, ma tutto passa: la giovinezza come la forza fisica, le comodità come i ruoli di potere. Far dipendere la propria vita da realtà così passeggere è, dunque, stoltezza (Papa Benedetto)
As sometimes happens in the Gospel, faced with the trap set by his enemies, Jesus, with his response, rises above the contingent controversy and goes far beyond the particular and mutually divergent positions (Pope John Paul II)
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