Questions arise around the word “Forgiveness” such as: What is forgiveness? Who needs forgiveness? And who needs to forgive? Who has the authority to forgive other(s)?

As children of Adam and Eve, we are all inherited the original sin through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are washed of our original sin. However, it does not mean that after Baptism we never sin again. Therefore, forgiveness is a need for forgiveness when we hurt God or one another somehow and someway.

Honest ourselves, we all hurt God and one another. Just as Jesus himself, born as a Jews under the Jewish laws, forgave the sins of a prostitute, the tax collector, and others because they violated God’s laws and the Jewish laws, so we too, more or less, violate God’s laws, human laws, and society’s laws either consciously or unconsciously.

How many of us are conscious to keep the right speed of 35 mph on the street with the speed limit of 35 mph especially when we are in hurry? How often have we passed the speed limit of 60 mph on high way when we might not be in hurry? How often do we turn to the ones around us to talk to them instead of focusing on reading a book or being busy with the iPhone and ignoring the presence of others around us? How well do we keep silent instead of talking and whispering while others are praying or meditating in silence? How have we helped financially to our Church when we hesitate to be a generous contribution, but we spend extravagantly on trips and leisure or material possessions?

Thanks to God that he allows us to reconcile with God and with one another through the Sacrament of Reconciliation that he gave his disciples and their successors the authority to forgive sins when he said to his disciples reported in today’s Gospel saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Let’s remain strong in the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful in his teaching, and dare to live his Word.

Not that Jesus’ disciples have the power to forgive sins, but they also have the power to commit sins as well. Pope Francis, when he’s asked how often he goes to confession, his response reported by Cindy Wooden from Catholic News Service saying that “he goes to confession every two weeks, knowing that God never tires of forgiving those who repent, but also knowing that having a priest say "I absolve you" reinforces belief in God's mercy.” Let’s remember God’s mercy endures forever and come often to receive the forgiveness of sins. The decision is yours.