This is an article for people who want to understand from a Franciscan perspective how the wrongdoing they may experience of others, and the forgiveness granted to them, is part of a process of personal conversion, spiritual growth, and ultimately transformation with and in God. The recent theological explanations of Franciscan Fr. Roberto Pasolini are … Continue reading Franciscan Wisdom: Forgiveness lets us see ourselves as God sees us
empathy
Lenten Forgiveness Series #2: “We, though many, are one!”
"Our ability for feeling the same as someone else is one of the things that makes us human and helps us live life more abundantly. Feeling the same as someone else is a wondrous moment when we feel a special unity with someone rather than our usual feelings of difference from other people." During this … Continue reading Lenten Forgiveness Series #2: “We, though many, are one!”
Franciscan Wisdom: Use Humility to Grow Peace
Fr. Roberto Pasolini is a Franciscan Capuchin priest who serves as the official preacher in the "Papal Household" -- basically meaning Pope Leo's house and residence. He is a gifted author and orator, and will be providing Lenten meditations from March 6 through March 27. Franciscan Fr. Pasolini's first meditation makes some important points about … Continue reading Franciscan Wisdom: Use Humility to Grow Peace
Forgiveness is Seeing Fraternity with Love of Christ
(art: Siblings, Paul Klee, 1930) The REACH Forgiveness Process developed by Everett Worthington and taught through Live and Forgive is a research-validated individual level approach to forgiveness. A critical component of the REACH process is having the forgiving person cultivate empathy for the person they are forgiving based on their basic human sameness. The idea … Continue reading Forgiveness is Seeing Fraternity with Love of Christ
Your Empathy Makes Your Forgiveness
(photo: Čeština, Mikhail Gorbunov, 2012) There are two scientifically validated forgiveness processes, and empathy of the forgiver toward the person being forgiven is the key in both of them. One forgiveness process is the REACH Forgiveness Process developed by Everett Worthington, and the other is Guideposts for Forgiving developed by Robert Enright. In both processes, … Continue reading Your Empathy Makes Your Forgiveness
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
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
Keys to Forgiveness: Patience & Humility
(photo: Tom Delaney, Stearns County, Minnesota 2025) The colors and shapes of the natural world are a joy to behold. As much as nature is set up to perform amazing displays of splendorous color, we ourselves are set up to behold these displays and experience emotional responses of awe, wonder, and joy at them. It … Continue reading Keys to Forgiveness: Patience & Humility
Mercy Makes Forgiveness
(photo: Pope Leo XIV and author Diane Foley, Vatican Media, 2025) I have a theory: Learning from experience is fundamentally human. We learn from our experiences, and what we learn changes the way we think, feel, and act -- sometimes a little, but sometimes in ways that transform us. When we are in community with … Continue reading Mercy Makes Forgiveness
As We Forgive
(photo by Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota 2025) After sharing a photo of closed Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) flowers a while back, I thought I really should make a point to share with you a photo of the fully blossomed flower so as to do them some justice. When you head out into the woods … Continue reading As We Forgive
Live and Forgive 