Chiara Lubich: forgive one another

In today’s society, choosing to forgive is very unconventional. Some people think that forgiveness is a weakness,” Chiara Lubich affirms in the passage we publish here. “No, it is the manifestation of the greatest courage, it is true love, the most genuine love because it is the most selfless.  If we want to contribute to creating a new world, the only way is to do as God does. God not only forgives, but also forgets.

The Lord forgives all our faults because “he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness”[1]. He overlooks our sins[2], he forgets them, casting them behind his back[3].

God forgives because, like any father or mother, he loves his children and therefore always forgives them, covers their mistakes, gives them confidence, and encourages them without ever tiring.

Because he is father and mother, it is not enough for God to love and forgive his sons and daughters. His greatest wish is that they treat each other as brothers and sisters, get along well, and love each other. Universal fraternity, that is God’s great plan for humanity. A fraternity that is stronger than the inevitable divisions, tensions and hard feelings that creep in so easily because of misunderstandings and mistakes.

Families often break up because they cannot forgive each other. Old hatreds maintain the division between relatives, social groups, and peoples. At times there are even those who teach people not to forget the wrongs they have suffered and who cultivate feelings of revenge… And a dull resentment poisons the soul and gnaws at the heart. Some people think that forgiveness is a weakness. No, it is the manifestation of the greatest courage, it is true love, the most genuine love, because the most selfless. “If you love those who love you, what merit have you?” – says Jesus – everyone knows how to do that: “Love your enemies”[4] .

We are asked to learn from him and to have the love of a father, of a mother, a merciful love towards all those who come our way, especially towards those who do something wrong. Moreover, to those who are called to live a spirituality of communion and fellowship, that is, the Christian spirituality, the New Testament asks for something more: “Forgive one another”[5]. We could almost say that mutual love requires that we make a pact with one another: to be ready to forgive one another always. This is the only way we can contribute towards universal fraternity.

Chiara Lubich

 (Chiara Lubich, in Parole di Vita, [Words of Life] Città Nuova, 2017, pp. 666-667)

[1] (Ps 103:3:8)
[2] (Cf Wis 11:23)
[3] (Cf Is 38:17)
[4](See Mt 5:42-47).
[5] (Col 3:13)