Every time I peacefully gaze up at the crucified Jesus above the altar at my church, I am reminded of the power of forgiveness. Jesus’ life, death and ressurection show me that true love knows no judgment or condemnation.
The purity of his love sees the divine essence of Christ in each person, no matter what they have done. With his arms splayed open and nailed to the cross, he says of those responsible, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. – Luke 23:34
I want to love as Jesus loves with open and forgiving arms. I want to be forgiven with the same unboundless mercy.
It’s challenging to forgive others when they’re at their worst. My heart operates either open or closed. With an open heart, I embrace the full range of human experience, from receiving love to feeling despair. With a closed heart, I’m protected from pain but also excluded from joy.
Forgiveness is how I keep my heart open to receive God’s love. It also makes me vulnerable to rejection, scorn and disappointment. But the holy nature of God’s love helps me endure, overcome and even transform the pain. If I close my heart to those who hurt me, I cut off the source of all love, including God’s.
It’s also difficult to forgive myself. I tend to have high expectations of others and get angry when they don’t meet my standards. At first, my anger is at them for their “failure,” but it eventually returns to me when I realize I have no right to judge others. I don’t know their capabilities, what they have gone through, or how much they struggle.
Every day, Jesus reminds me to have an open heart regardless of what others do or don’t do. He asks that I courageously accept everything as it is in this moment, bear the pain and continually extend forgiveness. It’s the only way to keep the channels of God’s love flowing freely, resurrecting myself and those around me.
This kind of forgiveness isn’t easy for me. Even though I know it’s the only way to live with an unburdened heart, sometimes I can’t let go of the anger or guilt. It feels too scary to let go of my righteousness and victimhood, the crutches I’ve become comfortable leaning on instead of God’s love.
That’s when I surrender to Jesus and ask him to do it for me as he did on the cross.
Then, in time, the forgiveness of Christ unblocks the channel and allows love to flow like a river through me and out into the world, comforting and refreshing all who are near it.
The Radical Catholic 
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