...Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Ust...

  We deserve our current chastisement because of sin (the wages of sin is death), both from those who have been entrusted to lead our country (even if attaining office by fraud) and by those who have been entrusted to lead us to the heavenly beatitude -- the successors of the Apostles.  (Do folks realize that it is also the duty of any legitimate government to guide its citizens to Heaven as well?) 

We deserve our current chastisement because we have squandered those merits gained for us by the supreme sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross.  He forgave his tormentors, yet we find it difficult, or even refuse, to forgive those who have harmed us.

Still, we beg forgiveness for the evils we have done to our neighbors, whether in word or action -- or inaction.

I label that hypocrisy... Or is it just the weakness of our fallen human nature?  Whatever it is, we cannot hold grudges; we cannot wish evil on someone who has hurt us, morally, spiritually, emotionally or physically.  To do so would not be Christian, in fact, it would be the direct opposite of the command of Christ to love our enemies...

I admit that it is not easy to fulfill that command.  I speak from experience.

As an example, it took me a full 50 years -- half-a-century! -- to forgive Jane Fonda, the traitor who helped the North Vietnamese with hard-core Communist propaganda against our military fighting in Vietnam.  

It should be noted that I still don't like Fonda, but in order for me to be forgiven, I had to forgive her.  It's as simple as that.  Pretty straightforward...

True charity for one's neighbor, does not mean you or I have to like him, but we have to love him...

The same holds true for our mortal enemies...  

Yet, there are some crimes against humanity that seem almost impossible to forgive -- and forget?  History provides many examples of this, just crack open a history book or see what has happened in the past, and what is going on in the world on a daily basis... 

I will give one example of man's inhumanity to man... (See the following video from breitbart.com.  You will get angry; you will want instant justice for this miscreant of a human being.)

VIDEO: Uber Driver Mom Begged for Her Life Before Fatal Shooting (breitbart.co.)

It is a sad commentary on our society, but, as horrendous a crime this is, take a look at what happens every weekend in the once-great city of Chicago.  Last year alone there were over 850 homicides and over 4,500 citizens shot.  

Does this sound like a war zone, or what?

I cannot imagine the trauma, the destruction of the family unit and the heartache they must feel for the loss of their loved ones...    

How can they forgive the perpetrators of those heinous crimes?

Again, our Lord forgave his torturers and killers from the Cross, so, can we do any less??

What we can do is to pray for justice, that in itself, is a crucial element of charity... 

The fact is you cannot have one without the other, similar to love and marriage...

Let's face it, in many cases of inhuman treatment by a criminal, we want instant revenge, not reform or conversion.  This too, is human; a normal reaction to a crime, especially perpetrated against us or one of our family members or friends...

There are many aspects to the command to love thy neighbor, but suffice to say, that command given to us by Christ, our Lord, cannot be ignored; it must be fulfilled...

..."Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"...

Pray for strength and honor!

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

Gene DeLalla