Sometimes I hear people say ?things about forgiveness….
“I believe it’s possible”
“If you are repentant you can be forgiven.”
“I’m forgiven but I still do these things, so maybe I’m not really forgiven.”
Other phrases that break my heart.
I’ve been thinking about forgiveness a lot lately; at Mass we say the Nicene Creed as our response to the Liturgy of the Word (the readings and sermon) and we say “I believe in the forgiveness of sins” and when we say a Rosary we again affirm our belief in God’s forgiveness when we begin with the Apostle’s Creed.
There are no caveats. There is no “I believe that sins might be forgiven”. There is just an absolute “I believe that sins are forgiven.”
The Sacrament of Reconciliation makes the absolute even clearer.
“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The focus is on cleansing and reconciliation. There is no doubt that consequences may still exist but the cleansing is complete. The sins themselves no longer exist nor is the sinner defined by them.
We are new creatures.