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TODAY’S WORD…

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Then Peter came to Jesus and asked,

“Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

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– Matthew 18:21-22 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Where do I stand with pardoning?

Have I set a limit – say, seven times?

Or do I always forgive, as Jesus tells me to – seventy times seven?

In other words, am I ready to pardon always and without limit?

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The Lord asks of those who follow Him, of you and me,

a forgiving approach and unlimited pardon.

The Lord demands of His own friends – you and me –

a completely generous largeness of heart.

He, in fact, wants us to imitate Him.

Nothing makes us so God-like

as our willingness to forgive. (St John Chrysostom)

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Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

That is what we say each day – often several times a day- in the Our Father.

If we claim that our prayer to the Father is sincere,

then the pardon we grant must also be sincere,

from the heart,

and granted in the same manner as God pardons us…repeatedly, every time.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Our Father, Who art in Heaven,

hallowed be Thy name;

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

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Amen.

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…  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  … 

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.