Forgiveness: One Step at a Time

As Christians —if we take Jesus seriously— we are challenged to embrace forgiveness, one of the most difficult Christian virtues. After twenty-five years of priestly ministry, and after counseling hundreds of people, Fr. Joe Sica, has concluded that over ninety percent of troubled relationships result from the unwillingness or inability to forgive.

Here he offers ten invaluable steps to help you take forgiveness seriously:

• handling injury
• getting stuck in the past
• wanting payback
• telling everybody about it
• waking up
• loving confrontation
• setting boundaries
• patching up
• reaping benefits
• moving on.

He calls these “dance steps” and has choreographed them beautifully to connect with Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness. Each step includes something to learn (path), something to consider (ponder), something to do (practice), and something to say (prayer).

Fr. Joe Sica is a priest of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He is a storyteller, motivational speaker, and author of Embracing Change: 10 Ways to Grow Spiritually and Emotionally (Twenty-Third Publications).