One of the most powerful things we can experience in our lives is to give or to receive forgiveness. It’s also for many the hardest thing to do. It is not our Lord’s intention here to give love of neighbor priority over love of God. There is an order in charity: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. This is the great and first commandment”. Love of one’s neighbor, which is the second commandment in order of importance, derives its meaning from the first. An offence against love is, above all, an offence against God. When we fail to forgive, we trap ourselves in the negative power of unforgiveness. Richard Rohr says that “In forgiveness, we live up to our true and deepest dignity. We then operate by a power and a logic that is not our own. We live out of the true self and not just the tiny self that is always offended and complaining.” Without forgiveness nothing new happens, and we remain frozen in our small past. We need to ask the Lord for the grace to let go of those grudges and hurts we hold on to. How else will we ever be free?