Human beings have limited abilities and limited resources.
And the limited life span is the most obvious reality of
human life.
So in our human limitations, we cannot say that we can love
unconditionally.
And neither can we say that we can forgive unconditionally.
Because only God can love unconditionally, and only He can
forgive unconditionally.
In the 1st reading, God seems to have forgiven the
wicked king Ahab the terrible sin of killing an innocent man just because of
some greed over a piece of land.
It seems that just because Ahab did some penance that God did
not bring the punishment on him but turned it on his son instead.
But with the understanding that the afterlife and existence
of a person is continued in his descendants, then it is actually a more
terrible punishment on Ahab.
It was not because God did not want to forgive Ahab
unconditionally.
Rather it was Ahab who did not repent unconditionally.
As the 1st reading puts it: Indeed, there never as
anyone like Ahab for double dealing and for doing what is displeasing to the
Lord.
So, we may not be able to love unconditionally, and neither
are we able to forgive unconditionally.
The least that we can do is to repent unconditionally, as we
turn to God who loves us and forgives us unconditionally.