Felix Culpa

“God alone can make forgiveness something glorious to remember”

“God alone can forgive sins.”
Above and beyond its juridical meaning,
we must read this statement
as a sort of description of God.
Only He “knows how” to pardon.

We surely don’t.
According to the old saw, women forgive but never forget.
And as for men, theyre so self-centered
they forget
and very rarely take time, thought or trouble to forgive.
All in all, human forgiveness is a crushing thing,
an unpleasant memory
we can’t shake off.

The superiority of those who grant pardon
utterly quashes those who receive it.
There’s forgiveness, but no reassurance,
no consolation,
no encouragement.
God’s the only one who can manage all four together.

You see, forgiving kindly entails humiliating oneself.
The prodigal’s father doesn’t want to hear another word about the whole episode.
He gives a banquet.
That’s how God does it, too.
He alone can make forgiveness
something glorious to remember.
He’s so glad to absolve us
that those who’ve afforded Him that joy feel,
not like disagreeable, troublesome pests,
but like pampered children,
understood and heartened,
pleasing and useful to Him,
and infinitely better than they thought.
“O happy fault!” they could cry.
“If we weren’t sinners
and didn’t need pardon more than bread,
we’d have no way of knowing
how deep God’s love is.”*

Louis Evely

*Emphasis mine