Let us return to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! We are the ones who get tired of asking forgiveness. And let us ask for the grace never to tire of asking forgiveness because he never tires of forgiving. Let us ask for this grace.

Pope Francis words in his little homily the other day reminded me of this passage in one of Augustines sermons:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, among us a seeker, with his Father a giver, surely would not exhort us to ask unless he were willing to give. We should be ashamed of our laziness: he is more willing to give than we to receive; he is more willing to show us mercy than we to be freed from our misery.

(Augustine, Sermon 105, 1; PL 38, 619)

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

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