It is said that in Italy a week before Easter Sunday an interesting little rite is observed. Olive leaves are gathered and colored in gold and silver. They are then taken to a priest and blessed.

After the church service the leaves are given to those who have had a disagreement with anyone else during the year. They then carry the leaves to the people with whom they have quarreled, who are honor bound to accept the token and to forgive, for to refuse forgiveness would bring sorrow to God. Thus their souls are cleansed of all unforgiven sins before the Easter season.

Christ said that we are forgiven our sins only as we forgive others. No halfway measures will do. Either we must forgive or we shall not be forgiven. Perhaps this is only a natural thing. If we cannot offer forgiveness to others, we will be unable to believe in and accept it for ourselves.

If you cannot forgive Jack for that slighting remark he made last week -- or last year -- then you may not know how to accept God's willingly extended forgiveness for your own sins that you confessed last night.

Do you have sins that need to be forgiven? Remember that you must forgive others first. As you stand before the altar of God, seeking pardon, think for a moment of any grudges or bad feelings that you are harboring. Confess them to God and forgive the person who has wronged you, then you are ready to pray for forgiveness for yourself.

Let us with God's help extend the olive leaves of peace to those with whom we have had disagreements. And if any olive leaves are extended to us, let's forgive those whom we have wronged so that we can freely accept God's forgiveness of our sins. For only as we forgive shall we be forgiven.