You're in the forgiveness business. How good are you at it?

Sinfulness does not summarize the human condition. Life holds out the possibility of repentance, to which God responds with mercy and forgiveness.

Because it's hard to get the whole family together in the same room these days, we can sympathize with the tension in the concluding scene of the parable about the prodigal son.

Repentance can get complicated. There can be the reluctance and anger as well as joy. Ultimately, though, God's love and forgiveness overcome all obstacles.

The tax collectors and sinners who came to listen to Jesus were people who were keenly aware they had lost their way in life. They hung on Jesus' every word. The Pharisees and scribes may have been just as lost, spiritually, but they concentrated so much on the externals of looking holy that they didn't realize anything was missing in their lives.

None of us is perfect. There are times our actions disappoint God. The chosen people had Moses to defend them. Paul reminds us that we have Jesus who came specifically to save us. And that should be reassuring.

Though God sent Moses with the Ten Commandments, the people of Israel quickly lost their way. They returned to idols, by worshiping a golden calf. That same temptation to worship false gods is alive today.

We ask our loving God to forgive our sins.

As one who can now profess faith in Christ Jesus, Paul has journeyed from sinner to apostle.

In essence, we're "loved sinners." Both goodness and sin constitute our real identity. Not to recognize the truth of either leaves us either unhealthily depressed or dangerously inflated, too hard on ourselves or too easy on ourselves. —Ronald Rolheiser