NEWLY-APPOINTED Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., who served as UST’s grand chancellor for nine years, once advised against hating one’s self when asking for forgiveness, saying God’s love can vanquish all kinds of hatred.
In his speech as UST retreat master in 2015, Radcliffe, one of the 21 new cardinals appointed by Pope Francis this month, said people should refrain from succumbing to guilt – a habit he described as “very destructive” – so they could move on from their sins and experience joy anew.
“Forgiveness is not about hating yourself. Sometimes people think forgiveness is about wanting God to forget your sins. You confess them and then they’re disposed of, never to be mentioned again… [But] forgiveness for the New Testament is something much more radical,” Radcliffe said during the retreat held on Oct. 12, 2015 at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
“[F]orgiveness is the utter creativity of God whose love can overcome all the hatred we could ever do. And so we dare to remember who we are, we dare to remember what we’ve done, we dare look at ourselves in the mirror and see ourselves and not despair but still be joyful,” he added.
Radcliffe, who served as the Master of the Dominican order and ex-officio grand chancellor of UST from 1992 to 2001, said humans tend to question the essence of faith because they stock up a “great, big guilt complex.”
“[Guilt complex] can become a psychological burden on people. Christianity is not about thinking that you are horrible and very bad… It’s realizing that every single one of us is created to love infinitely,” he said.
The former UST grand chancellor acknowledged that forgiveness may not always come easy for people as they often identify themselves as “victims.”
“[S]ometimes, it’s hard to give up that identity as a victim but unless we dare to do so, we will be stuck in a small narrow identity from which we need God’s grace to liberate us,” Radcliffe said.
Radcliffe advised the faithful to practice forgiveness as a habit until it eventually develops into their natural course of action.
“Become the sort of people who habitually forgive… So that we learn to forgive the little things, the small hurts, the little wounds and then slowly, we will learn to forgive the really terrible things in due course,” he said.
Aside from Radcliffe, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David was also among the new cardinals appointed by the pope.
The consistory for the creation of the 21 cardinals will be held on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Concepcion.
Cardinals elect a new pope when he dies or resigns, give advice to the pontiff and help him govern the Church. F — V. Palad
