“Facing Forgiveness: A Catholic’s Guide to Letting Go of Anger and Welcoming Reconciliation,” by Brother Loughlan Sofield, Sister Carroll Juliano and Bishop Gregory Aymond. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2007). 128 pp., $9.95.

Easter’s promise of redemption and forgiveness offers hope to people whose lives are compromised by anger and bitterness.

Such emotions imprison them in burning resentment, obsessive thoughts of revenge or in cold behavior, refusing to deal with the offender.

For Christians, “the ultimate example of forgiveness is Jesus on the cross,” write the authors of the new book, “Facing Forgiveness: A Catholic’s Guide to Letting Go of Anger and Welcoming Reconciliation.”

“Forgiveness is neither a cognitive nor an emotional response. Forgiveness is an act of the will. It is the choice to let go of the desire to get even with an offending party,” they write.

The three authors, a “brother-sister-bishop team,” distill their experiences gathered over many years of teaching and counseling into a small but helpful book on the dynamics of forgiving.

The topic of forgiveness, they write, “is like a magnet that draws people into its field.”

Co-authors Brother Loughlan Sofield, a Missionary Servant of the Most Holy Trinity who also happens to be a native of the Diocese of Brooklyn, and Sister Carroll Juliano, a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, lead workshops on anger and forgiveness and have written several earlier books. And Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas, is a noted theologian and teacher.

“During counseling sessions, those who chose forgiveness experienced a profound sense of freedom and would often describe it as if a physical, emotional and spiritual weight had been lifted from their shoulders,” they write.

The book pulls together 25 brief stories of people who struggled to forgive, overcoming anger and the depression such feelings often lead to.

“The main reason why people choose to retain their anger and not forgive is, as they declare, ‘I don’t know how to forgive.’ They may not know how to forgive because they lack human models of forgiveness,” the authors write.

Readers may be inspired by the life experiences of people profiled in the book, such as: a mother who was mired in depression for years after her son died in the twin towers Sept. 11, 2001, a Pakistani seminarian beaten and scarred for life because of his Christian faith, and a sister who reached out immediately after an argument.

Again and again the authors share the small miracles of reconciliation that result when someone makes a gesture of forgiveness from the heart.

This passage from Ezekiel opens a chapter on the hard feelings the descendants of J.R.R. Tolkien experienced over disputes in filming his masterpiece, “The Lord of the Rings”: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

The book is an examination of conscience on “letting go of anger and welcoming the gift of healing through forgiveness,” Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora writes in his foreword. “Every sincere penitent knows the treasure that forgiveness is for the spirit. It is resurrection: It is life.”

To emphasize that belief, the authors conclude the book with a review of Church teaching on the sacrament of penance. They also include questions for readers to reflect on their understanding of forgiveness and to clarify their thoughts.

“It is important to admit to ourselves that the realities of being forgiven and offering forgiveness are usually messy and often heart-wrenching,” they write.

“However, the anticipated pain and messiness does not excuse us from beginning the process of forgiveness. Ultimately we are all bound by the injunction of Jesus in the Gospel that we forgive as God has forgiven us.”

Bartos is senior staff writer at the Pittsburgh Catholic diocesan newspaper.