FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES:
“Every sin can be forgiven as long as the sinner is repentant.”

We are all sinners and there is no day which goes by without our having to seek pardon from God for our sins, big or small, whether be by action or omission, in our thoughts, words and deeds. Nevertheless, Our Lord who is merciful, never despises a humble and contrite heart who acknowledges his sins and approaches him to ask for his forgiveness.

It is a great heavenly gift for us to be able to recognize our sins and draw near to the fountain of divine mercy. Father, forgive us our trespasses! The Lord will answer by bestowing on us a great peace.

Below you have an excerpt, taken from In Conversation with God, vol. 5, 41 which will help us understand this petition we ask Our Father.

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41.2 The Lord is always ready to forgive us. Every sin can be forgiven as long as the sinner is repentant.

In making this necessary acknowledgment of our sins, it is not enough to call them to mind lightly; for it is necessary that the recollection of them be bitter, that it touch the heart, pierce the soul, and imprint sorrow. Wherefore, the pastor should treat this point diligently, that his pious hearers may not only recollect their sins, and iniquities, but recollect them with pain and sorrow; so that with true interior contrition they may betake themselves to God their Father, humbly imploring Him to pluck from the soul the piercing stings of sin?
The Lord is ready to forgive everyone. He who comes to me I will not cast out.10 It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.11 As St Thomas has taught us, the omnipotence of God is manifested above all in divine pardon and mercy. God shows in this fashion that He has the supreme power to forgive sins.12 The Gospels record many occasions when Jesus demonstrates his mercy for sinners. He receives sinners. He attends to them. He beckons them. He understands them. He pardons them. The Pharisees were wont to criticize Jesus for his approach. He rebukes them with those immortal words: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.13
Proper pardon for an offence can only be given by the one who is offended. Only God can forgive sins. As Jesus told the Pharisees: Who can forgive sins but God only? 15 Jesus brings these words to fulfillment before their eyes. After the Resurrection, He confers upon his Church and her ministers the power to forgive sins. He tells the Apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.16
The Lord is always willing to grant pardon through the Sacrament of Penance. The Catechism of the Council of Trent states: Wherefore we ought to be firmly convinced, that since He commands us in this petition to implore his paternal mercy, He will not fail to bestow it on us. For this petition assuredly implies that God is so disposed towards us, as willingly to pardon those who are truly penitent. God it is against whom, having cast off obedience, we sin… But it is also God, our most beneficent Father, who, having it in his willingness to do so, has also obliged men to ask him for pardon, and has taught them the words in which to ask To no one, therefore, can it be a matter of doubt that under his guidance it is in our power to be reconciled to God.11

41.3 The one condition for forgiveness: that we forgive others. What our pardon should be like.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We pray these words many times each day. The Lord asks us to imitate God’s paternal mercy. Be merciful, even as your heavenly Father is merciful.18 The Lord does not tire of repeating this counsel: Forgive, and you will be forgiven … For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.19
God has forgiven us for many offences. We have no right to harbor resentment against anyone. We have to learn to forgive with all our heart. Our pardon should be sincere, profound and prompt. Sometimes we feel hurt for no objective reason, but only because our self-love has been bruised. If perhaps we have indeed been seriously offended we must necessarily remember our own serious transgressions against the Lord. Christ does not accept the offering of those who foster division. He sends them away from the altar to make peace and achieve reconciliation. Cod wants to be given prayers of peace. His greatest objective is our peace, social harmony, and the unity of the faithful in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.20
Let us examine our reaction when people ‘rub us the wrong way. To follow Christ in ordinary life is to find in this very area a royal road to serenity. We should take care to avoid even the most minute fault against charity. The small contradictions of social life should not detract from our happiness. If there comes a time when we have to forgive someone as the result of a serious offence, it is then we will do well to recall the behavior of Jesus who asked pardon for those who crucified him. We will thus savor the true love of God. Our heart will be enriched and expanded in its capacity to love. We cannot forget that nothing makes us more like unto God than to be ever ready to pardon others? 21 Our generosity towards others will win for us the divine pardon.

NOTES
10. John 6:37
11. Matt 18:14
12. St Thomas, Summa Theologiae, 1, q. 25, a. 3 ad 3
13. Matt 5:31
14. Luke 19:10
15. Luke 5:21
16. John 20:22-23
17. Catechism of the Council of Trent, IV, 24,11
18. Luke 6:36
19. Luke 6:37-38
20. St Cyprian, Treatise on the ‘Our Father’, 23
21. St John Chrysostom, Homilies on St Matthew’s Gospel, 19,7

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