This post is for Catholic parishioners and community members who want a step-by-step process of restoring harmony to their lives, especially after an event or series of events that caused moral stress or moral injury for themselves, others, or both. A four step process for restoring is proposed based on the homily of Pope Leo … Continue reading Four Steps to Restore Harmony in Your Life: Repent, Repair, Reconcile, Rejoice
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Forgiveness: Heal your worldview, heal yourself!
(photo: Alex Knight, 2016) In important ways, the world we see is a reflection of ourselves. What we see is a reflection of what we are looking for, what has become important to us, what we choose to pay attention to, as well as how we think and feel about our prior experiences of the … Continue reading Forgiveness: Heal your worldview, heal yourself!
Is refusing forgiveness good for you?
(photo: Sherburne County, Minnesota, Tom Delaney, 2025) The northern lights were on spectacular display earlier this week here in Central Minnesota. The wonder of their intense color and ambling hues easily reminds us that there is something much bigger than us afoot in our universe. We thrill to the sight of the northern lights and … Continue reading Is refusing forgiveness good for you?
Is there divine forgiveness for suicide?
One of the greatest tragedies and griefs that a person may experience in their lifetime is the death of a loved one when they take their own life. The despair of the loved one that first led them to taking their own life doesn't stop there, but rather extends its devastation to encircle the living … Continue reading Is there divine forgiveness for suicide?
Perfectionism Works Better with Self-Forgiveness
(photo: Al Shahed Press, 2025) My spiritual director was a priest in his elder years who had "seen it all, done it all." During one of our meetings, he commented, "I have heard confessions - thousands of them, maybe more, who knows how many? In all of that time what I saw was that I … Continue reading Perfectionism Works Better with Self-Forgiveness
Forgiveness Multiplies Forgiveness
(photo: Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota, 2025) There is a prodigious deer population here in our little corner of the oak savanna in Central Minnesota, maybe because of our proximity to Dunes State Forest and Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. It seems that they appreciate the network of walking trails through the woods and frequently use … Continue reading Forgiveness Multiplies Forgiveness
Pope Leo Delivers Message of Hope for the Downcast, Weary, and Suffering
(photo: Pope Leo XIV, Edgar Beltran, 2025) Forgiveness offers both the forgiver and forgiven a relief from the painful and burdensome negative emotions that are experienced when forgiveness has not happened. Particularly when someone has experienced moral distress and moral injury in a hurtful event, we know that these events are commonly followed by: guilt … Continue reading Pope Leo Delivers Message of Hope for the Downcast, Weary, and Suffering
Pope Leo Explains the Resurrection as Cause and Model for Forgiveness
(photo: Edgar Beltran, 2025) Pope Leo XIV had important things to say about forgiveness in his General Audience on Wednesday of this week. His remarks linked forgiveness to the example of Jesus Christ when he appeared to the disciples after his resurrection (John 20:19-31), and how Jesus appears without anger or desire for revenge, but … Continue reading Pope Leo Explains the Resurrection as Cause and Model for Forgiveness
Moral Distress & Moral Injury in Forgiveness
(photo: Скорбящая Mать, Sergey Cherny, 2012) Forgiveness models and processes often involve moral distress and moral injury a person has experienced, including in practicing a forgiveness process in small groups and guided retreats. Having good definitions of moral distress and moral injury and an understanding of their relationship can improve the quality of forgiveness processes … Continue reading Moral Distress & Moral Injury in Forgiveness
The First Step in Forgiveness is the First Step
(photo: Muhammad Abdullah Iftikhar, 2017) How do I even start? What makes an effective forgiveness process different from one that doesn't have good results is that an effective process has needed steps, in a needed sequence, with each step defined in the certain way that it needs to be defined. Fortunately, scientists have done a … Continue reading The First Step in Forgiveness is the First Step
Live and Forgive 