Sep 6 Sat
Should I forgive?
Pope Leo XIV gives us the answer.
Jesus, during the last supper, offered a morsel to the one who was about to betray him. It was love’s last attempt not to give up.
Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass … He loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1-2). Till the end: here is the key to understanding Christ’s heart. A love that does not cease in the face of rejection, disappointment, or even ingratitude.
Jesus knew the moment in which his love must pass through the most painful wound, that of betrayal. And instead of withdrawing, accusing, defending himself… He continued to love: He washed the feet, dipped the bread, and offered it.
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” With this simple and humble gesture, Jesus carried his love into its depths, not because He was ignoring what was happening, but precisely because He saw it clearly. He knew that the freedom of the other, even when it was lost in evil, could still be reached by the light of a meek gesture, because He knew that true forgiveness does not await repentance, but offers itself first, as a free gift, even before it is accepted.
Judas, unfortunately, does not understand. After the morsel, “Satan entered him.” This passage strikes us as if evil, hidden until then, manifested itself after love showed its most defenseless face. And precisely for this reason, that morsel is our salvation: because it tells us that God does everything, absolutely everything, to reach us, even when we reject him.
Here, forgiveness, with its power, manifests the true face of hope. It is not forgetfulness; it is not weakness. It is the ability to set the other free, while loving him to the end. Jesus’ love does not deny the truth of pain, but it does not allow evil to have the last word. This is the mystery Jesus accomplishes for us, in which we, too, are called to participate.
There is always a way to continue to love, even when everything seems irredeemably compromised. To forgive does not mean to deny evil, but to prevent it from generating further evil. It is not to say that nothing has happened, but to do everything possible to ensure that resentment does not determine the future.
When Judas leaves the room, “it was night,” but a light has already begun to shine. And it shines because Christ remains faithful to the end, and so his love is stronger than hatred.
We, too, experience painful and difficult nights. Nights in which someone has hurt or betrayed us. In those moments, the temptation is to close ourselves up, to protect ourselves, and return the blow. But the Lord shows us that one can offer a morsel even to someone who turns their back on us. That we can move forward with dignity, without renouncing love.
Let us ask today for the grace to forgive, even when we do not feel understood, even when we feel abandoned.