God will forgive

Many of us live in despair.

We ask ourselves: How can things ever be right again?

Today’s readings remind us that things can be right again, because God is a forgiving Father.

The first reading (Micah 7:14-15, 18-20) fairly sings of God’s forgiveness:

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins...

And then there is the Gospel (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) with the wonderful parable of the prodigal son and the forgiving father:

While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son,
embraced him and kissed him.

God is a forgiving Father, giving us the courage to go on with our lives in new and better ways of faithfulness.