Forgiveness is a Choice not a Feeling (March 21, 2026)

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Today’s Sources:

• Daily Bible Reading - March 21, 2026 | USCCB (Reading 1: Jeremiah 11:18-20; Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12; Gospel: John 7:40-53)

• Day 80: Cities of Refuge — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (Numbers 35–36, Deuteronomy 34, Psalm 121)

• Day 80: Summary of the Mysteries of Christ’s Life — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (Paragraphs 561–570)

• I Forgave Them...So Why Am I Still Mad? (w/ Fr. Rob Mulderink) — Ascension Presents

• March 21, 2026 | Catholic Daily Reflections | Formed (with Tim Gray)

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Daily Catholic Deep Dive. We're here to connect the dots between the Bible, the Catechism, and your daily life. Every day we go over the daily Mass readings, Father Mike Schmidt's Bible in a year, and Catechism in a Year, plus other popular Catholic podcasts and videos released today we find interesting. If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the daily Catholic listening, don't worry. We are here to find that one golden thread that ties it all together. Let's dive in. Today is March 21st, 2026.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Yeah, and uh today we're tackling a really heavy one, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

We really are. We're looking at, well, huh humanity's oldest problem, revenge.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Oh yeah, the classic blood feud.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Right. And you know, the radical way it gets dismantled. So to do that, we're pulling from the USCCB Daily Readings, uh day 80 of Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year, plus a daily reflection from Dr. Tim Gray of the Augustine Institute.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Aaron Powell And there's also a really great new Ascension video on forgiveness on the menu today, too.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Yes, exactly. So to start us off, I mean, the urge for revenge usually starts with some kind of deep betrayal, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Right. Which is exactly what Dr. Tim Gray's reflection zeroes in on today. He uh he looks at the first reading from Jeremiah chapter 11, verse 18 to 20.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Aaron Powell, Jeremiah just gets completely blindsided.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

He does, yeah. He actually calls himself a trusting lamb, yeah, led to slaughter because well, because the very people around him are actively hatching plots to destroy him.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Which is just uh it's an awful feeling. Like finding out a coworker is actively trying to get you fired or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Oh, it's the worst.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

And it connects directly to the gospel today, too, uh, from John chapter seven, verse forty to fifty-three, because we see the exact same thing happening to Jesus live.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah. The crowds are all divided, and the Pharisees are just actively scheming to arrest him.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Right. But honestly, like when someone plots against you, your immediate gut reaction isn't, you know, to be a trusting lamb. Right. Not at all. It's to strike back. You want retaliation. So how did ancient Israel even begin to handle that biological urge to get even?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Aaron Powell Well, they handled it with this literal geographical circuit breaker. Like on day 80 of Bible in a year in Numbers chapter 35, God sets up these cities of refuge.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Right. I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yeah. So if someone committed, say, accidental manslaughter, they could literally just flee to one of these walled cities.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Aaron Powell Wait, so it was just a giant ancient sanctuary city? Like you could just hide from the law?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Well, no, not from the law, but from mob justice. Sociologically, I mean this was totally revolutionary.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Because before that it was just constant blood feuds, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Exactly. In ancient cultures, if you killed my brother, my family had to kill you, then your family killed me. Just a never-ending generational cycle. Wow. So the cities of refuge stopped that mechanism. It forced a pause, you know. It gave the accused a fair trial instead of just letting an angry family exact blind vengeance.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

That makes total sense as a systemic fix. But then uh we get to day 80 of Catechism in a year, and Jesus just completely flips the script.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

He really does.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Because the Israelites needed those walled cities to hide from violence, but Jesus He does the exact opposite.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Precisely. The catechism points out that Jesus voluntarily walks right into Jerusalem, fully knowing he's gonna die a violent death there.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

He doesn't flee the injustice at all.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

No. He walks directly into it and just he absorbs it.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Which is a massive leap, though. I mean, going from let's pause the mob violence to I will willingly absorb your violence.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, it's radical.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

How are we supposed to actually replicate that in our daily lives when we've been wronged? It feels impossible.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Well, and that is our golden thread today. I think it's perfectly explained in that new Ascension video.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Oh, right, the one about forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah. It's about moving from vengeance to this like supernatural level of forgiveness. Because we usually think of forgiveness as an emotion, right? Yeah. Like we wait until we aren't angry anymore to forgive.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Right. Because saying I forgive you when you're still furious just feels like you're lying.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Aaron Powell Exactly. But the video clarifies that forgiveness isn't a feeling at all. It's a concrete, logical choice made with God to release someone's debt.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Like canceling a contract.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yes. Think of it exactly like canceling a financial contract. You rip up the IOU, you don't have to feel happy about losing the money, but the transaction is legally canceled.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

That's great analogy.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

And once you make that choice in your will, you stop drinking the poison of resentment. Eventually the emotions do catch up to the reality of the canceled debt.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

So the action precedes the feeling. That's wow, that's really challenging. It makes you wonder like if you're holding on to a grudge, waiting for an apology that might literally never come, who is actually trapped.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Are you punishing them or are you just keeping yourself locked inside a prison of your own making while they've already moved on? Just something to think about today.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

It really is. What a powerful way to look at it.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

That's our deep dive for today. We hope this helped you see the big picture. If you enjoyed this content, please remember to subscribe to the show or support our mission through the link in the description. God bless.