I have found that the Act of Contrition is about as easy to gloss over as the Our Father. In the Act of Contrition we have, "I firmly resolve, with the help of [God's] grace to sin no more, and to avoid near occasions of sin." While in the Our Father we have, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
When I have a conflict with someone, I tend to scream it out right then and there, or I take a more passive-aggressive approach and hold a grudge as long as the sun may shine. Either way, I am constantly thinking about the person, who has now become my occasion to sin, and I am laying the groundwork for my own unforgiveness. Ouch.
Through the help of many good priests in my life, I have learned to walk away. That is not to say I have stopped standing up for myself and my family. I just endeavor to surrender it to God and move on with my life.
The people who hurt me do not need to be a part of my life. They can be perfectly happy in their own lives without me in it. I can forgive their moment of transgression and not add to it in my imagination, presuming intentions and manufacturing darker motives.
Brothers and sisters: Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5: 1-5
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