“Forgiving is not, therefore, a good deed that we can choose to do or not do: forgiving is a fundamental condition for those who are Christians,” Pope Francis has said, speaking Sunday 17 September. “By forgiving one another, we can bear witness (to God), sowing new life around us.”

“If we want to be reconciled with one another and with ourselves, to be reconciled with the past, our eyes must be lifted to the crucified Jesus,” Pope Francis said.

In February 2020, Leila and Danny Abdallah lost their children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8, and their niece, Veronique Sakr, 11, when a driver who was drunk and on drugs drove up on the sidewalk.

Since then, what has dominated the Abdallahs’ life is their focus on the power of forgiveness.

“Let us never forget that God does not act in the daily lives of people through shocking acts, but in a silent, discreet, simple way, so as to manifest himself through people who become a sacrament of his presence. And you are a sacrament of God’s presence,” – Pope Francis

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Pope Francis greets the crowd after celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter's Square at the Vatican 10 April 2022. Photo: CNS/Paul Haring. Jesus obeyed the most challenging of commandments: to love one's enemies; and he invites humanity to do the same by breaking a vicious cycle of evil, sorrow and hatred with love and forgiveness, Pope Francis said ...

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has recently highlighted that we must be careful not to fall into the trap of constructing in our own minds a Jesus with whom we can be comfortable and who does not ask too much of us, during the celebration Mass for the opening and blessing of the new columbarium and gardens at Cottesloe-Mosman Park Parish. By Jamie O’Brien.