Atende, Domine et Miserere, qui a peccabimus Tibi.
Praised be Jesus and Mary.
Amen.
Forgive us the wrong we have done, as we forgive those who wrong us.
Or, as we are more familiar with, forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And if people...
are not aware of really what they say in the Our Father,
as our Lord has taught them,
he spells it out for them.
If you forgive the faults of others,
your Heavenly Father will forgive you yours.
If you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive you.
So the Our Father is a very serious prayer,
a very wonderful prayer,
taught by our Lord himself.
And when we pray it, we're praying in the words of God.
And it must be pleasing to our Heavenly Father
to hear those words that his Divine Son has taught us.
Yet, so many people go about the world with hatred in their hearts.
How many people have we heard?
Or known, maybe even family members who have held grudges against someone
or hasn't spoken to someone for ages
because of some misunderstanding, some petty argument.
And even if it's a big argument, it doesn't really matter.
Our Lord says we have to forgive.
I remember...
A friend of mine was working at a parish.
He wasn't ordained, but people would still come to him and speak with him.
And this one lady came, and she was always complaining.
The problem was with everyone else, her neighbors, her family.
And she was always full of bitterness.
Nothing ever went right.
And she was complaining.
She was complaining that God never answered her prayers.
God wasn't answering his prayers, her prayers.
And she said, or my friend said,
Well, do you pray to our Father?
She said, Of course I pray to our Father.
Every day I pray to our Father.
And he said, God is answering your prayers.
Because God is forgiving you.
As you forgive, and you can't forgive anyone.
So that's why you're not happy.
So we have to lead a life pleasing to God.
Striving to do his will.
And no one's ever going to be happy if they're not.
And we may not always be happy.
We're not happy if our mother dies.
If a loved one passes.
But we can still be at peace.
We know God doesn't make mistakes.
And we have to find forgiveness in our hearts.
We hear it spelled out.
Our Lord speaks of this throughout the Gospels.
The measure you measure with will be measured back to you.
If you wish to receive mercy, be mercy.
If you wish to receive forgiveness, be merciful.
So it's not an option.
And during this season of Lent,
we strive to deny ourselves all sorts of things.
What could be more pleasing than denying our pride?
And even if we're not in the wrong,
maybe we're not at fault,
but it's not going to hurt us to apologize.
For anyone that may be upset with us,
who's not speaking with us,
let them know that we're open to reconciliation.
And when we do so,
we can be assured of our Heavenly Father's mercy
and his forgiveness.
May the supposed 8 lying end be the
rest of us for today's service.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.