Forgive us Our Debts, As We Also Forgive Our Debtors--- Fr. John Grou, S.J. (1731-1803)

[Dawn Marie]

Forgive us Our Debts, As We Also Forgive Our Debtors
Fr. John Grou, S.J. (1731-1803)

.
“In several passages the Gospel represents our sins as a debt that we have contracted towards
God’s justice, and the pardon granted to us as a remission of that debt. That is why, in order to make the
matter clearer and more intelligible, the words of Jesus Christ have been translated in our language into
these, which have the same sense: And forgive us our offences, as we forgive those who have offended
against us. This conditional petition is extremely remarkable. Nothing could show more plainly the
immense importance that God attaches to the forgiveness of injuries. He here solemnly pledges Himself
to remit the sins we have committed against Him if we, for our part, will forgive our neighbor for the
wrongs he has done us. But at the same time He declares that we need expect no pardon from Him if we
be inexorable towards our brothers. And in order, as it were, to force us into forgiveness He bids us use
a form of prayer in which we definitely pledge ourselves to it. ‘Forgive us,’ we say to Him, ‘as we
forgive,’ which plainly means: ‘Forgive us if we forgive; and do not forgive us if we refuse to forgive.’
“The vindictive Christian is hereby condemned out of his own mouth, then; or else he must abstain
from saying the Lord’s Prayer as long as a single thought of revenge remains in his heart. It is a terrible
alternative for a man with any religious sense at all. Jesus Christ foresaw how much the forgiveness of
injuries would cost to our pride and self-love, and how ingeniously we should devise reasons for
avoiding it. It was in order to deal summarily with all these reasons, to impose silence, and quell our
pride and self-love, that He appealed to our chief interest, making the forgiveness of injuries the
essential condition of the far more important forgiveness that we need ourselves and that we pray God
every day to give us. Moreover, of all the petitions comprised in His prayer, this is the only one on
which He enlarges and insists, adding these words immediately: For if you will forgive men their
offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive you your offences.”

.

Forgive us Our Debts, As We Also Forgive Our Debtors (Part 2 of 3)
Fr. John Grou, S.J. (1731-1803)

.
“Which of us has not offended God? Which of us does not ask forgiveness for our sins? Which of
us is not more or less uneasy with regard to that forgiveness, and does not long for some assurance that
may bring us peace? Well, here is a perfectly definite assurance, and it is Jesus Christ who gives it to
you. If your brother has offended you and you are sincerely disposed to forgive him; if you feel no
hatred nor resentment against him; if, on the first advance he makes or the first sign of regret he shows,
you are gladly reconciled to him; if in certain cases you are ready to go even farther and make the first
advances; and, finally, if you are resolved to forgive him in the same way as often as he offends you,
then you may be quite at ease and confident with regard to the forgiveness of your sins. You have every
reason to believe that it will be granted you, and you have a right to say to God: Lord, I am very guilty
in Thy sight, and I deserve no mercy! But I have forgiven my brother from my heart, as Thou hast
commanded me: I hope, yes, hope, all things from Thy compassion, and hope is founded on Thy
promises, which cannot fail. For a Christian who knows what happiness he loses through sin, and what
retribution it involves, there can be no consolation comparable to this.

.
“On the other hand, if he obstinately refuses to forgive, and harbors revengeful feelings in his heart
to his last breath, his position is woeful and desperate indeed, for his eternal condemnation is a matter of
terrible certainty. His sentence is passed, and he has himself subscribed to it. It has been put out of his
power to say to God: Forgive me! And having shown no mercy to his neighbor he can only expect a
merciless judgment. And this he knows. There is no truth more clearly and frequently expressed in the
Paternoster, which he has repeated since his childhood, bears witness against him.”
N.B. Please forgive us for not having today's note available earlier. After you read today's note,
however, we are sure that we will receive your wholehearted pardon. =)

.
Forgive us Our Debts, As We Also Forgive Our Debtors (Part 3 of 3)
Fr. John Grou, S.J. (1731-1803)

.
“The state of heart dedicated to hatred is horrible indeed: it is premature damnation. Nevertheless it
is not a rare state, and human pride is insane enough to undertake its justification. The man of vindictive
heart dares to complain that God has imposed too hard a condition upon him, and in his blind fury taxes
God with injustice. Wretched creature, you owe your Master ten thousand talents; he takes pity on you
and remits your debt; and yet, a moment later, you seize your brother by the throat because he owes you
a hundred pence! You strangle him, crying: Pay what thou owest! You turn a deaf ear to his apologies
and entreaties; yet you think it unjust that God should treat you as you do your fellow-creature! Man
refuses forgiveness to his fellowman for offences that are slight, since they are between equals; and at
the same time expects God to forgive him for offences against His infinite Majesty! Could pride and
injustice go further?

.
“Surely it is perfectly plain that God, in this matter, concedes a portion of His rights, and that He
could not offer us more favorable terms. Our debts to Him, which we have contracted by sinning, cannot
possibly be compared with those that men contract among themselves by their mutual offences. God, on
the one hand, is ready to remit all our debts at our first request; and on the other hand demands that
charity and peace shall reign among us, because it is His design to unite us eternally in His own bosom,
where charity and peace abide. Could He possibly, then, demand less of us, to reconcile us with
Himself, than perfect reconciliation with our brothers? And Jesus Christ, in whose mind our sins were
present on the Cross, and Who shed His Blood for us, though we crucified Him no less than the Jews, is
surely not asking too much when He expects us to forgive one another as He forgave. Nothing appears
more just to our arrogant reason than revenge; and according to the principles of Christianity there is
nothing more unjust. Even if we were guiltless of any offence towards God, the example of Jesus Christ
would impose upon us the obligation to forgive, and by failing to follow it we should deserve
punishment.”