(photo: Sherburne County, Minnesota (USA), Tom Delaney, 2025)
Ice and snow, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
~ Daniel 3, Liturgy of the Word for Thursday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Dr. Katharine Harmon and J.P. Mischhoff at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary located here in Central Minnesota, are now offering 60-second sermons through the Pray Tell Blog.
Recently Samuel Rahberg, also of the Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, asked “If you had 60 seconds to share a word of encouragement or wisdom, what would you say?”
Getting your main message about anything down to 60 seconds is a good challenge. It pushes you to go after directness, simplicity, and communication of the absolutely essential. It’s especially a challenge if you’re like me — notoriously… shall we say … “verbal” …whenever I get on a roll about something I am excited about, especially with people I am excited to be with, in a place where I am excited to be. I have a Roberto Benigni inside of me just waiting for any chance to get out. And if you don’t know Bernardo Benigni, his 1990 Oscar acceptance speech is a good place to start. That all said, I gave the question some thought and came up with this:
Forgiveness is the most extraordinary ability that even the most ordinary and lowly of us possesses. The best of both scientific research and catechesis shows us that we are wired to forgive, and that forgiveness is definitively human — it is part of what it is to be human, and forgiveness itself makes us more human in the best ways. If we really can discern an arrangement, a purpose, and a “mover” from what we see in the created world, including ourselves as creatures in the created world, we have to conclude that there is an intention that that the world become a place of forgiveness for us. Biblical narratives and catechesis can confirm and reinforce that for us. What is left then is simply our own freedom and choice whether to be forgiving. Again, the most extraordinary ability of even the most ordinary and lowly of us. With so many of us ordinary and lowly types around, the plan seems to be that it is the forgiveness of the most ordinary and lowly that the world depends upon. What a wonderful paradox.
OK, maybe it’s a little longer than one minute. Call it a “Roberto Benigni minute” long. It’s a pretty good quick encapsulation of what i am trying to say through this Live and Forgive project.
I think the greatest quick encapsulation, perhaps ever in history, is to be read in the Gospel of Matthew (22:34-40):
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
When I recite the words of Jesus in this passage, it takes only about 15 seconds. That’s how simple, direct, and absolutely essential the message can be. At times I am very stumped to figure out how the message can be so simple and yet humanity has struggled for millennia with even the basics of loving neighbors, no less the basics of loving God. So simple, yet we struggle so much. Why? … I don’t have a good answer for that. But I do know that forgiveness is “the most extraordinary ability that even the most ordinary and lowly of us possesses” and a choice any of us can make that takes us toward greater love.
But don’t skip over the good news that your main goal in this earthly existence is simply to be a loving person. Loving God, loving your neighbor, and loving yourself as God’s creation bearing the very image of God! Becoming a more loving person, a more forgiving person, brings its own rewards. The reward is built into the work itself — that’s a good deal, don’t you think? With so much reward waiting for us in the process of becoming more loving and more forgiving, why would we hesitate? Why not take just one more step today?
Please share these words with someone who needs them today.
This text is an original work of its author Tom Delaney and was entirely composed without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
If your parish or faith community is seeking a deeper experience of forgiveness, healing, mercy, and spiritual renewal, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — he will be glad to connect with you for a conversation. Please type in your email and click “Subscribe” below to stay connected and get Live and Forgive articles delivered to you.
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