Jesus always forgives

"I hate you!" "I hate you, too!" "So? I hate you AND you're UGLY!"

You were angry, and you said really mean things to someone. You're scared that you hurt their feelings, but what can you do? It's too late to take it back -- and what if God is mad at you, too?

People sometimes find it hard to forgive each other. But there's nothing you can do that God won't forgive you for, if you're really sorry. In this week's Gospel, we learn about the biggest forgiving of all: Jesus forgives the people who killed Him.

Jesus was arrested and brought to Pilate, the governor, but Pilate saw that Jesus had done nothing wrong. He wanted to let Jesus go, but those who hated Jesus said, "No! Let someone else go!" So Pilate ruled that Jesus would be killed. The crowd took Jesus away and crucified Him. Later that day, He died, and the whole earth shook. Those who were watching said, "This man was the Son of God."

That's what the people who hated Jesus did. Jesus told them they were living their lives all wrong and that they had to change. They didn't like hearing that, so they got Jesus arrested and killed.

After you've yelled, "I hate you" or "you're ugly," you see the person you hurt crying and you feel guilty. How can God or the person forgive you?

After Jesus died, people saw that He really was the Son of God and felt terrible. How could God forgive them? But God did. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." If Jesus can forgive even those people, there's nothing you can do that He won't forgive!

Everyone makes mistakes. It might take a long time for someone you hurt to forgive you. But God is just waiting to forgive you. All you have to do is ask!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to ask you AND the people I hurt for forgiveness. Amen!

(03-25-99)