Joke: A dirty and drunken wino who was passing a Catholic Church one day, noticed a sign on the door that said: "Confessions Being heard." Since he had not been to confession for a long time, he staggered into the church, knelt down in the confessional and began to confess his sins. Unfortunately, his breath was so foul that the priest who was hearing confessions couldn't stand it and decided to cut things short. "Look," he said to the wino. "Have you murdered anybody lately?" "Nope," the wino replied. "O.K. then," the priest told him. "I am going to say the prayer of absolution.” Slightly puzzled, the wino staggered out of the confessional and as he was walking out of the church, saw a fellow wino who was going into the church. "You going to confession?" The first wino asked. "Yep," said the second wino. "Don't waste your time," the first wino said. "He ain't hearing nothing today except murder cases."

Questions arise around the word “Forgiveness” such as: What is forgiveness? Who needs forgiveness? And who needs to forgive other(s)? Or who should forgive other(s)?

As children of Adam and Eve, we all inherited the original sin through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are washed away from our original sin. However, it does not mean that after Baptism we never sin against the Lord and one another. Therefore, forgiveness is a need for forgiveness when we hurt God or one another somehow and in some way.

Honest ourselves, we all hurt God and one another in our lives. Just as Jesus himself, born as a Jew under the Jewish laws, forgave the sins of a prostitute, the tax collector, and others because they violated God’s laws and the Jewish laws, so we are too, more or less, that we violate God’s laws, human laws, and society’s laws either consciously or unconsciously. Jewish laws, the laws of Moses, human laws, or society’s laws are written laws, and God’s laws are not only the letters of the written laws but much higher than these are the spirit of the laws. In the spirit of the laws, Jesus condensed all the laws, written laws, into two great important laws which are to love God and to love one another.

The written laws, for example, how many of us are conscious of keeping the right speed of 35 mph on the street with the speed limit of 35 mph especially when we are in a hurry? How often have we passed over the speed limit of 60 mph on the highway when we might not be even in a hurry? How often do we turn to the people around us to talk to them instead of focusing on reading a book or being busy with the iPhone and ignoring the presence of others around us? How well do we keep silent when we enter the Church not talking and whispering while others are praying or meditating in silence? How have we helped financially to our Church when we hesitate to be generous with our contribution and spend extravagantly on trips and leisure or material possessions?

Thanks to God that he allows us to reconcile with God and with one another through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He gave the authority to forgive sins to his disciples and their successors when he said to his disciples reported in today’s Gospel, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Let’s remain strong in the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful in his teaching, and have the courage to live his Word by reconciling with God and with one another through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Not that Jesus’ disciples have the power to forgive sins, but they also have the power to commit sins as well. Pope Francis, when asked how often he goes to confession, his response reported by Cindy Wooden from Catholic News Service that “he goes to confession every two weeks, knowing that God never tires of forgiving those who repent, but also knowing that having a priest say "I absolve you" reinforces belief in God's mercy.” Let’s remember God’s mercy endures forever and comes often to receive the forgiveness of sins. The decision is always yours.