Forgiveness Sunday and its essence

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Man is a perfect and mortal being at the same time. On the one hand, we are created in the image and likeness of God. So, we have everything to make our lives and the fate of the people around us happy. At the same time, bad thoughts often appear in our head. We are overcome by despondency, depression, resentment against fate or someone close, etc. Forgiveness Sunday helps us to remember who we really are. This bright day is the best moment of the year to put yourself and your relationships in order.

When Forgiveness Sunday comes, and what is its essence

The long-standing Orthodox tradition of asking for forgiveness from all those whom we have accidentally or intentionally offended has existed since ancient times. Christ Himself in the Gospel of Matthew tells us that just as we forgive people their sins, so our Heavenly Father will forgive us our mistakes (Matthew 6:14-15). This dayfalls on the last Sunday before the onset of Lent, which precedes the celebration of Easter. Once in Palestine or Egypt, the monks, in order to cleanse their souls before the main Christian holiday - Christ's Sunday - went to pray in the desert. At the same time, it could well happen that she could become their last refuge. Therefore, before leaving, they asked each other for forgiveness and reconciled, as before death. Of course, none of us go into the desert these days. But it is highly undesirable to enter Great Lent with bad thoughts. Therefore, Forgiveness Sunday is a good opportunity to free your soul from the burden of guilt, in fact, sincerely reconcile with everyone and forgive everyone with whom we were dissatisfied.

How to excuse a person if there is no desire

Forgiveness Sunday has come, and resentment boils in my soul. And it seems like you want to find an excuse for the actions or words of the offender, but it doesn’t work out. Have you ever experienced this? Very often a person says that he cannot forgive. He implies that he still feels and cannot forget the pain caused to him. But anyone can be forgiven, it is enough to remember what example Christ sets for us. The pain may not go away right away. It does not pass instantly and automatically. The main thing is that in the soul there should be no desire to take revenge on the offender, the desire to hurt him. We are imperfect, but we strive to imitate God, to become like him. We should accept each other for who we are, and Forgiveness Sunday helps to remember this.

For what andwho to ask for forgiveness

To whom should I apologize? In front of those closest to you, who do you know for sure that hurt them? Or to act according to the principle: “I will ask for forgiveness from all the neighbors just in case”? The Church teaches us to purify our souls, first of all, before those whom we have deliberately upset, and with whom we have problems and difficulties in relationships. Secondly, we need to remember and ask for forgiveness from everyone about whom we thought badly. Thoughts are material and capable of causing harm. Moreover, the closer a person is to us, the more we can harm him. And even if there is no opportunity to meet with the offended person in person, you need to imagine the dialogue in your imagination. And then, when the opportunity arises to see this person, you need to apologize to him in reality. Thirdly, we need to remember all the claims to ourselves and our destiny, and then accept everything that happened to us in life.

Everything is the will of God, and in the end, any events are for our good, whether we believe in it or not. And, of course, you should not postpone and wait for the Forgiveness Sunday to come, if there is a feeling that the source of love in the soul has begun to dry up a little. Developing in ourselves a sense of kinship with everything that surrounds us, we make this world a better place, fulfill the commandments given to us more than two thousand years ago, and feel happiness from unity with the Creator.