He recalls seeing the movie 'Secret Sunshine' which opened in 2007. It moved him deeply. A child of a widow had been abducted and killed. She had become a Christian and her new found faith was asking her to forgive; she visited the prison to forgive the killer of her son.
She told the prisoner she was there to forgive him. However, he told her very calmly that he also had become a Christian and had been forgiven by God. She was the one he should be asking for forgiveness and hearing the words of the prisoner, destroyed the little faith she had. "The story of a Bug" on which the movie was based had for its theme: A person who takes away the opportunity to forgive is less than a bug. The movie leaves us with a number of questions.
Who is forgiving and why the forgiving? We all remember cases where harm was done to us either physically or mentally and we found it difficult to forgive. In the confessional, this is one of the more frequent sins confessed. Why is it so difficult to forgive?
Strictly speaking, it is only with the help of God that it is possible. Because the reason for forgiveness is to remove the injustice committed and to return to the pre-injustice situation. Asking for forgiveness, we want to return to the position where we are no longer a sinner. This is only possible with God. Like in the movie 'Secret Sunshine', after we inflict pain on another all we need to achieve peace is to go to God for forgiveness? Obviously not—we can not make our sinful actions disappear. God is the God of truth.
What is necessary is the person who has inflicted pain needs to face the sin and repent and ask for forgiveness. We need humility and courage to ask for forgiveness. However, knowing this, the giving of forgiveness is not easy for we don't do it with the head but with the heart. At times we want to forgive with the head but the heart doesn't want to go along.
Those who refuse to forgive are pained from two sides. One is from the material loss and mental suffering from the action of the other and the breakdown of the relationship with the other. Because of this, there are many who can't live a normal life. Those who can't forgive and those who need to be forgiven both are in pain.
Consequently, repentance and forgiveness, the one who has committed the injustice and the one who suffered both have diminished their freedom and are in search of it. Forgiveness allows one to become free from the scars inflicted and to regain freedom. Forgiveness is the weapon that is to overcome the ever-present sin that spreads in the world. Both the one who forgives and the one forgiven are able to grow in spiritual maturity and in the knowledge of God's love
With this in mind we can speak out like St. Paul in Romans 5:20: "However great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater."
