LENT, A TIME FOR FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION
(St. Leo the Great)
“Go first and be reconciled with your brother (Mt 5:24).”
Christian repentance is demonstrated above all in the desire to practice the virtues of justice and of charity. Lent is the most appropriate time for forgiving and for reconciliation. It is not coherent to hate someone, and to participate in the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of Love.
St. Leo the Great said in his Lenten sermon:
“You, beloved, who are preparing to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, exercise yourselves in the holy fasts, so that you may come to the most holy of all the feasts free from all shame. May the love of humility expel the spirit of pride, source of all sin, and may meekness mitigate those who are inflated with pride. May those who with their offenses have exasperated many, reconciled among themselves, seek to enter into the unity of peace. Do not return evil for evil, but rather forgive each other, as Christ has forgiven us (Rm 12, 17) Conquer human enmity with peace…
May we, who daily need the remedies of indulgence, forgive without difficulty the faults of others. If we say to the Lord, our Father: ‘forgive us our offenses, as we forgive those who offend us (Mt 6, 12 ),’ it is absolutely certain that, in forgiving the offenses of others, we dispose ourselves to receive divine clemency (Sermon 6, 3 of Lent).”
