Forgive us our (and their) trespasses

“It was bound to happen to us. In today’s Italy with its crisis, and where the media records a rise of thefts in the streets, in homes and in cars, our case goes to add itself to the list of thousands of people who find that their homes or cars have been burgled with such mastery.

Upon returning from a beautiful outing in an aquatic park with our little girls, we noticed that someone in the parking lot had sneaked into our car. A quick check and our summary of losses was done: key lock was forced, the house keys were gone including all the documents. Furthermore, the thieves – evidently professionals – to make sure that we would notice the theft as late as possible, had forced the left door and left the sat-navigator in the dashboard drawer, after they had moved it to take the documents that were below.

We immediately followed the usual procedure: called the police first of all, then called the neighbours to keep their eyes open for strange movements around our house, and the next day, started changing all the door locks of the house, which was quite an economically painful process which we were able to face, however, thanks to an unexpected extra help we had received just the day before: an unexpected reimbursement from the school where my wife, Sonia works. The sum spent for the substitution of the door locks practically amounted to the same sum deposited on our account.

Of course the girls also took part in all this hustle and bustle, and so we decided to discuss it with them. Remembering a phrase of the Our Father,“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” the discussion naturally focused on the theme of forgiveness.  We said to one another that this was our occasion to forgive not only with words, but with our hearts and without keeping any grudges. Also the Word of Life of the month was a big help. We recited a prayer together for “our” thieves, leaving the girls free to participate or not. The girls immediately accepted. We prayed that these people be converted. It was a strong and intense moment of unity for the family, and a good dialogue then arose regarding justice and the sense of forgiveness. For us, as parents, it was the occasion to be credible witnesses.

A few days later, after noon, while the girls were praying for peace, one of them asked us: “Can we still pray for the thieves?”

Source: New City online