A Filipino actress whose mother was killed in cold blood has forgiven the man who committed the heinous crime.
In an interview with ABS-CBN, the Philippines largest news network, Cherry Pie Picache opened up about how her Christian faith has enabled her to offer forgiveness to the killer.
Michael Flores confessed to the killing of 75-year-old Zenaida Sison at her home back in 2014. High on methamphetamines, Flores broke into the house early one morning and stabbed Sison to death.
Picache, who spoke candidly about her faith in Jesus, has released a documentary about making amends with her mother’s killer, called “Radical Love.”
So how did the actress first entertain the idea that she could forgive the criminal?
“I was asking for forgiveness, I still sin everyday!” she told the network.
“I’ve realized, how can I possibly ask for forgiveness when I cannot forgive.. if there is so much hatred and pain in my heart. So that’s the thing that led me to think about forgiving,”
With that said, a number of questions still plagued the grieving daughter and made it difficult for her to comprehend meeting the killer, let alone extending the hand of forgiveness. “If I do it, am I turning my back on my mom?” she asked. “Plus, I am the only one in the family who took the stance [to forgive].”
But Picache’s spiritual mentors kept her on the right track. “It’s a process,” they would tell the actress, urging her to do it all in God’s timing.
“It was a pathway to forgiveness,” Picache explained. “It was in my heart and my mind that I wanted to forgive. I was asking people to pray for me.. that I might eventually forgive him.”
The actress also noted that she asked to pray for the killer during court proceedings, but still held bad feelings towards him.
Slowly, God began to soften her heart. “I prayed, I fasted,” the actress said, determined to forgive the man who took her mother’s life. “You must have needed the Holy Spirit,” the anchor replied.
Then came the dramatic and emotional meeting in prison, when Picache decided to take off the shackles of unforgiveness, once and for good.
“I am now forgiving you; you can now also forgive yourself. You should have confidence that God has also forgiven you,” she told the convict, as the pair embraced in tears.
“I was going for my healing,” Picache said of the meeting, “but also for the reformation of my offender.”
The news anchor, who herself is a Christian, was rendered speechless by the actress’s staggerings attitude of grace.
Picache kept going.
“At the end of his life, even if he is suffering the consequences of the evil he has done, he will be able to go back to God with his dignity intact,” she said. “Everybody deserves a second chance.”
“Radical love is the only thing that will fight evil,” the actress declared. “That’s how God works, we sin every day but He’s still there for us.”