Officer speaks of forgiveness

WILBRAHAM - New York City Detective Steven D. McDonald, a paraplegic since he was shot in the spine by a teenager in Central Park in 1986 in the line of duty, told his story to students at Wilbraham & Monson Academy yesterday. Both his arms and legs are paralyzed.

McDonald told the students that what he learned after he was shot was that he could not do his job or live his life fully "if I wasn't close to God."

So he said he forgave the 15-year-old boy who shot him.

A Catholic, McDonald has taken his message of forgiveness to Northern Ireland. He has written a story included in a book by Protestant writer Johann Christoph Arnold entitled "Why Forgive?" which contains 50 stories of forgiveness.

McDonald said that when he forgave his attacker, "pain, hurt and anger" were lifted from him.

"Forgiveness is the key to a door to a better future," he said. "It is a way forward for our country."

[...]He told the students that his Irish Catholic family members have served on the New York City Police Department since the early 1900s. His father and grandfather both served in the New York City Police Department, and both were injured in the line of duty.

McDonald credited his survival to the love of his wife, Patti Ann McDonald.

"We were newly married, and she never gave up on me," he said. He added that in the year and a half he spent in the hospital he learned "My life is not my own, and the world is bigger than I ever imagined."

His son, Conor, was born six months after he was shot. At his son's baptism, he said he chose to forgive the boy who shot him.

"It's not about all that earthly stuff," McDonald told the students. "We are here to love each other."

He told the students that each of them is unique and each was made to do great things with their lives.[...]
By SUZANNE McLAUGHLIN, taken from mass live.com