(photo: Sherburne County, Minnesota (USA), Tom Delaney, 2025) And just like that...it's winter here in Central Minnesota. The snow fell overnight while a stiff wind blew from the north that shook the forest. Fittingly, today's Liturgy of the Word includes the beautiful canticle from Daniel (Chapter 3) and ... Cold and chill, bless the Lord;Praise … Continue reading “New Things” in Theology Point to the Science of Mental Health
REACH
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
Acceptance is Engagement with Reality of Forgiveness
(art: God Answering Job from the Whirlwind, William Blake, 1805 to 1806) Acceptance of a hurtful event or transgression is so important for forgiveness that it can be truly be said that forgiveness is not possible without acceptance. In the forgiveness process, acceptance in terms of "yes, this is what really happened," is involved in … Continue reading Acceptance is Engagement with Reality of Forgiveness
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
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
Resurrection Saves from Sadness & Despair
(art: Resurrection, woodcut print, 15th century C.E.) In his General Audience today, Pope Leo XIV explored the topic of personal sadness and explained how the resurrection of Jesus Christ can give us a hope that replaces despair. The pope's address is part of the the cycle of catechesis that will continue throughout the entire Jubilee … Continue reading Resurrection Saves from Sadness & Despair
Justice Will Always Be Delivered
(art: La Justicia entre los arcángeles Miguel y Gabriel, Jacobello del Fiore, 1421 C.E.) Justice is an important matter for forgiveness. When we are experience a hurtful event and its accompanying moral distress or moral injury, from something deep and fundamental in our own being we know "that's not the way it is supposed to … Continue reading Justice Will Always Be Delivered
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
The Way to Forgiveness: Quiet and Meditation
(photo: Mississippi River shoreline, Julian Garcia-Delaney, Minnesota, 2025) Nature is a very accurate reflection of our mental state. Look once, and you don't see anything. Look again, and suddenly you see something there that you didn't see before. What changed? Today let's consider another one of the Admonitions of St. Francis of Assisi. As I … Continue reading The Way to Forgiveness: Quiet and Meditation
Live and Forgive 