Heartening story of forgiveness

A reader writes:

I just wanted to call your attention to a wonderful, moving article about a Catholic couple forgiving the young man who killed their daughter; in light of recent events, I think we could use more stories like this.

(Yes, I know, ritually impure source : > )

I think forgiveness is one of the surest signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is incredibly difficult, often scandalous, and yet it is the thing God absolutely demands of us if we are to have any hope whatsoever of having our own sins forgiven. Our strategies for avoiding it are numberless and becoming a Christian often only leads people to come up with ingenious theological rationales for explaining why they don’t need to do it. But Jesus is stark and plain-spoken: If you do not forgive you will not be forgiven.

The benefits of forgiveness? Read the story. Peace. Love. The laying down of a crushing burden. The capacity to receive and give love.

Forgiving is like giving up smoking: you do it thousands of times. God bless these people for doing the will of God.