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
resentment
Our Own Anger is Still Not Good for Us
(art: Church of St. Nicetas, Macedonia, 14th cent.) Whenever the Gospel accounts of Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple come up in the Liturgy of the Word, I often see an article or hear someone asserting that the Gospel account is proof that anger can be righteous and even a virtue. It … Continue reading Our Own Anger is Still Not Good for Us
Forgiveness Will Make Your Best Tomorrow
(photo: The Unjust Steward, Eugène Burnand, 1850-1921) The reading fro the Gospel of Luke in yesterday's Liturgy of the Word related the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-8). In this parable, a servant of a wealthy property owner is found to have squandered his employer's assets, property, and holdings, and is told to prepare … Continue reading Forgiveness Will Make Your Best Tomorrow
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
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
Forgiving Makes More Forgiveness
(photo: Prairie Deer Mouse by Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota, 2025) An important part of my day is the time I spend in our stable, hay shed, and on our pastures. Regularly doing some outdoor work caring for animals and little ecosystems like pastures, keeps gives me a daily connection to nature and the proverbial … Continue reading Forgiving Makes More Forgiveness
New Heart, Natural Heart
(photo by Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota, 2025) One thing that you start seeing in the woods around the oak savanna this time of year is a noticeable addition of mushrooms. This trend starts in late summer and will have a crescendo in the fall. These mushrooms caught my eye as I was walking through … Continue reading New Heart, Natural Heart
Finding Freedom in Forgiveness
(photo by Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota, 2025) The August crescendo of summer here in Central Minnesota brings forth the short lived beauty of the hedge bindweed flower (Calystegoa sepium). These flowers on the vine may be in bloom for as little as one day, opening in the morning and closing by noon. The thing … Continue reading Finding Freedom in Forgiveness
Forgiveness Makes It Real
(photo by Tom Delaney, Sherburne County, Minnesota, 2025) Summer blooms on our oak savanna here in central Minnesota are a sight to see every day now. This is a favorite -- Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea). The Liturgy of the Hours can be a daily routine of prayer that gives you something to think about … Continue reading Forgiveness Makes It Real
Live and Forgive 