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The practice of forgiveness is at the heart of the Church's work to spread the Gospel. The Church's preaching of God's forgiveness explains her constant preoccupation with respect for human life, from conception to the moment of natural death. Forgiveness restores life; hatred brings death. There are times in a person's life when forgiveness may seem impossible. Forgiveness is a personal decision to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. It goes beyond pardon to the giving up of resentment. The offer to forgive is necessary for healing and peace; the preaching of forgiveness, from God and for one another, is central to the Church's mission in the world. From the cross, Jesus shows us the conditions which enable us to forgive. To the hatred with which his persecutors nailed him to the cross, Jesus responds by praying for them. He not only forgives them, he continues to love them, to want their good, to intercede for them. Only forgiveness from the heart can release us from our own hurts and misery and free us to share Christ's gifts with others. 
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