11th Thursday Ordinary Time

Prayer was an essential part of Jesus’ ministry. It was where he entered into contact with his identity – his relationship with the Father – finding nourishment, meaning and peace for his ministry and life. And the main characteristic of Jesus’ prayer, the one which stood out the most, was the fact that it was incarnate. Jesus was a living prayer and he conveyed salvation, peace and meaning to all those who entered into contact with him. And in my opinion, that is why Jesus asks us to forgive others as we would like to be forgiven by God: because prayer cannot be just some list of self-centered petitions; prayer must become the key of my identity, of my relationship with God and of what I believe is a meaningful life. That is why I must forgive others: because forgiveness inserts us into the very center of the paschal mystery – of Jesus’ biggest gift to humankind. We all know what it means to be offended. We all know how much it hurts and how much it costs to put into practice. And it is impossible to fake forgiveness. All the other petitions of the Our Father – “hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, give us this day our daily bread” – can become simply lip service. But forgiveness, no. It is too serious, too intimate, too ontological to be faked. And that is why it is a cornerstone of our path to true prayer. Its path is not easy. It must include the realistic appraisal of the damage that we suffered, the pain and anger of this loss, the realistic appraisal of how much the other recognizes his responsibility in all that and only after that, one can be able to say: “I forgive you – because Jesus forgives you”. That is very demanding – but in this Eucharist we are going to face something even more demanding: the forgiveness of all mankind, with the most exaggerated display of love on God’s part. May Jesus’ example help us in our path to true forgiveness, true prayer, to true Christian identity.