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If you’ve ever played a video game, then you know that there is always a series of levels.
The first level is the easiest, and the final level is the hardest. Sometimes it takes multiple tries before you succeed in beating that final level.
But if you do, then you’ve mastered the game.
***
In a similar way, if Christianity were likened to a video game, then today’s Gospel hints at that final level: the forgiveness of sins.
While Zechariah prophesies that God has come to forgive us our sins, we must remember the other side of the coin:
As Saint Paul says, “Put away all bitterness, anger, and shouting. Be kind to one another, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in Christ.”
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Over these next several days, we’ll be challenged to do just that.
In particular, to forgive that aggressive driver who cuts us off on the Parkway, our relatives who may be late or insensitive, that person who gossips about us, or that age-old grudge we’ve nursed against someone we should love.
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If we can forgive others the way God has forgiven us, then we’ve mastered Christianity.