Jesus made us a number of different promises during his lifetime and today we hear one of them: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven" To acknowledge Jesus before other people is obviously, first of all, a matter of faith, expressed in words, actions, attitudes, and life-style. The juxtaposition of today's first reading and the Gospel passage containing the promise remind us that we must acknowledge Jesus through forgiveness. On his deathbed Joseph had no words of recrimination or condemnation for his brothers. Although he does not expressly use the word "forgive", his promise of God's care for his brothers clearly reveals the genuineness of his forgiveness. As such, Joseph was a pre-figure of Jesus, who forgave his executioners as he was dying on the cross.

The doctrine of forgiveness is part of our daily prayer, the Our Father, as it was a constant part of Jesus' teaching and activity. Two of the highlights of the ministry of Pope John Paul II were his forgiveness of his assassin and his asking forgiveness for the Church's sins. The Pope certainly intended the institutional sins of the Church in his plea, but also the individual sins of individual Catholics against our fellow human beings.