Forgive Us Our Trespasses
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
Forgiving and Being Forgiven (2838)
This petition is not listed with the first three because of an astonishing requirement. Our sins won't be forgiven unless we forgive others. Our petition seeks a future good (our forgiveness). However, the word "as" shows that our own forgiving must happen now.
"And Forgive Us Our Trespasses..." (2839)
When we begged that God's name be holy, we also asked that we be made holy. Although clothed in baptismal grace, we do not cease to sin. In this new petition, we are as the prodigal son and the tax collectors. We begin with this confession because in Christ "we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins" (Col 1:14). In the sacraments, we have the efficacious sign that we received this forgiveness.
Forgiving Hearts (2840-2841)
Christ's mercy cannot penetrate our hearts if we have not forgiven those who sinned against us. Love is indivisible. We cannot love God (whom we cannot see) and not love others (whom we do see). By refusing to forgive others, our hearts become hardened to God's mercy. However, confessing our sins opens us to God's grace.
Jesus says explicitly "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions" (Mt 6:14-15).
Jesus' Use of "As" (2842)
Jesus frequently used the word "as." He told us to "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48), to love "as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34), and to be merciful "as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). To act as Jesus, the believer must vitally participate in the life and love of God. We must have the mind of Christ "forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave us" (Eph 4:32).
Jesus' Parable (2843)
The Lord ended his parable of the merciless servant by saying, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart" (Mt 18:35). Sins are bound and loosed only "in the depths of our heart," where the Holy Spirit can turn injury into compassion and hurt into intercession.
To Enemies (2844)
This forgiveness must extend to enemies. Only hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness proclaims to the world that love is stronger than sin. Only by love can men be reconciled with God and with one another.
To Everything (2845)
Divine forgiveness has no limits in forgiving "sins" (Lk 11:4) or "debts" (Mt 6:12). We are all debtors owing to no one, "except to love one another" (Rom 13:8). "God does not accept the sacrifice of a sower of division, but commands that he depart from the altar so he may first be reconciled with his brother" (St. Cyprian).
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