Tom McGrath - Reflection on Forgiveness - Program 4612

Tom McGrath, Vice President for Product Development at Loyola Press, reflects on a lesson on forgiveness that he received from his 5th grade teacher.

When I was in 5th grade we had a new teacher we liked a lot, and our class misbehaved and made his life miserable. One day I organized a prank. I spread the word, “Hey, at 10:05 let’s all let a book slide off our desks.”

A bunch of my buddies did precisely that. Our teacher continued on with the lesson, ignoring us and took the steam right out of our fun. But then Patty O’Rourke, a girl who always behaved and never acted up, slid her geography book belatedly off her desk and it slammed onto the floor.

This was apparently the last straw, and our red-faced teacher scolded her and told her she’d have to stay after school. Patty covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. Our teacher’s face contorted with agony and anger.

I sat in my desk, increasingly miserable. I had a secret crush on Patty and I had great respect and even affection for my teacher. I saw what my silliness had wrought. I sat stewing for what seemed hours, and then I walked up to the teacher’s desk.

“I was the one, sir. I’m the one who told everyone to do that. It wasn’t her fault. I’m sorry.”

Our teacher looked at Patty. “Miss O’Rourke, your punishment is lifted. Mr. McGrath, you’ll see me after class.”

When class was over I sat in my seat. The teacher sorted papers, erased the blackboard, and straightened his desk. Eventually he came and stood looming next to me.

“Tom, I forgive you,” he said. And that was that. A total gift. I had been expecting punishment or a lecture. Never did I expect forgiveness. I thought my relationship with this good man had been shattered. He chose otherwise. It was one of the best lessons I learned in school and one of the greatest gifts I ever received.