Jn 20: 19-31

Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

This is just a piece of today’s Gospel reading. But it is without a doubt, one of the greatest mysteries of our Catholic faith; the forgiveness of sin.
Many say that only God can forgive sin, no man can forgive another person’s sin. Being married to a Protestant, I have come to understand through the years the opinion of those who do not believe that a man can forgive another person’s sins. But, it is this verse that has made my faith in God’s mercy ever stronger. Jesus said to his disciples, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” To me, there can be no other explanation of what the Lord intended for his disciples to carry on in his absence. Jesus allowed the ones who were closest to him in this world to carry on in his absence.
A Priest has been given the grace by God to be his vessel of infinite love to those who seek his mercy. A man is only a man, but through God’s grace, those consecrated to him have been blessed with the ability to carry on his mercy, extending his hands to all those who seek him. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained,” Sounds like a plan to me; the plan of the extension of his infinite mercy.