«Superexaltat autem misericordia iudicium» — "Mercy exalts itself above judgment" (Jas. 2:13).
Point I
Goodness is diffusive by nature, that is, inclined to communicate its goods to others as well. Now God, who by nature is infinite goodness («Deus cuius natura bonitas» — "God, whose nature is goodness," St. Leo), has a most ardent desire to communicate His happiness to us; and therefore His inclination is not to punish, but to show mercy to all. To punish, says Isaiah, is a work foreign to God's inclination: «Irascetur, ut faciat opus suum, alienum opus eius... peregrinum est opus eius ab eo» — "He will be angry, so as to do His work; His work is foreign... His work is strange to Him" (Isa. 28:21). And when the Lord chastises in this life, He chastises in order to show mercy in the next. «Deus iratus est, et misertus est nobis» — "God was angry, and has had mercy on us" (Ps. 59:3). He shows Himself angry, so that we may repent and detest our sins: «Ostendisti populo tuo dura, potasti nos vino compunctionis» — "You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of compunction" (Ibid. 5). And if He sends us some chastisement, He does so because He loves us, to deliver us from eternal chastisement: «Dedisti metuentibus te significationem, ut fugiant a facie arcus, ut liberentur dilecti tui» — "You have given a signal to those who fear You, that they may flee from before the bow, that Your beloved may be delivered" (Ibid. 6). And who can ever admire and praise enough the mercy God shows to sinners in waiting for them, in calling them, and in welcoming them when they return? And first of all, oh what great patience God has in waiting for you to do penance! My brother, when you were offending God, could He not have made you die? Yet God waited for you; and instead of chastising you, He did you good, He preserved your life and provided for you. He pretended not to see your sins, so that you might repent. «Dissimulans peccata hominum propter poenitentiam» — "Overlooking the sins of men for the sake of repentance" (Wis. 11:24). But how is it, Lord? You cannot look upon a single sin, and yet You see so many and keep silent? «Respicere ad iniquitatem non poteris; quare respicis super iniquitates, et taces?» — "You cannot look upon iniquity; why then do You look upon those who work iniquity and keep silent?" (Hab. 1:11). You gaze upon that dishonest man, that vindictive man, that blasphemer, who day after day adds to his offenses against You, and You do not punish him? And why such patience? «Propterea exspectat Dominus, ut misereatur vestri» — "Therefore the Lord waits, that He may have mercy on you" (Isa. 30:18). God waits for the sinner so that he may amend, and thus be able to pardon him and save him.
St. Thomas Aquinas says that all creatures — fire, earth, air, water — by their natural instinct would wish to punish the sinner, to avenge the injuries done to their Creator: «Omnis creatura, tibi factori deserviens, excandescit adversus iniustos» — "Every creature, serving You, its Maker, burns with indignation against the unjust." But God restrains them out of His compassion. But, Lord, You wait for these wicked ones so that they may repent; and do You not see that the ungrateful make use of Your mercy to offend You all the more? «Indulsisti, Domine, indulsisti genti, nunquid glorificatus es?» — "You have been gracious, O Lord, You have been gracious to the nation; have You not been glorified?" (Isa. 26:15). And why such patience? Because God does not will the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and saved.
«Nolo mortem impii, sed ut convertatur, et vivat» — "I desire not the death of the wicked, but that he turn and live" (Ezek. 33:11). Oh the patience of God! St. Augustine goes so far as to say that if God were not God, He would be unjust, considering the too-great patience He shows toward sinners: «Deus, Deus meus, pace tua dicam, nisi quia Deus esses, iniustus esses» — "My God, my God, with all reverence I say it: were You not God, You would be unjust." To wait for one who makes use of that patience to become more insolent seems an injustice to the divine honor. «Nos peccamus» — "We sin," the saint goes on to say, «inhaeremus peccato» — "we cling to sin" (some make peace with sin; they sleep in sin for months and years), «gaudemus de peccato» — "we rejoice in sin" (others even come to boast of their misdeeds): «et tu placatus es! Te nos provocamus ad iram, tu nos ad misericordiam» — "and You are appeased! We provoke You to anger; You call us to mercy"; it seems we are competing with God — we, to provoke Him to chastise us, and He, to invite us to pardon.
Affections and Prayers
Ah, my Lord, I understand that by now it would be my lot to be in hell. «Infernus domus mea est» — "Hell is my home." But now, by Your mercy, I find myself not in hell, but in this place at Your feet, and I hear You enjoining on me the precept that You will to be loved by me: «Diliges Dominum Deum tuum» — "You shall love the Lord your God." And You are telling me that You wish to pardon me, if I repent of the injuries I have done You. Yes, my God, since You wish to be loved even by me, a wretched rebel against Your majesty, I love You with all my heart, and I repent of having outraged You more than of any other evil I could have incurred. Ah, enlighten me, O infinite goodness; make me know the wrong I have done You. No, I will no longer resist Your calls. I will no longer displease a God who has loved me so much, and who has pardoned me so many times and with so much love. Ah, would that I had never offended You, my Jesus! Pardon me, and grant that from this day forward I love none but You: may I live for You alone, who died for me; may I suffer for love of You, since You have suffered so much for love of me. You have loved me from eternity; grant that in eternity I may burn with love for You. I hope for all things through Your merits, my Savior.
And in You I also trust, O Mary; through Your intercession You are to save me.
Point II
Consider, moreover, the mercy God shows in calling the sinner to penance. When Adam rebelled against the Lord and then hid himself from His face, behold: God, having lost Adam, goes in search of him and calls him, almost weeping: «Adam, ubi es?» — "Adam, where are you?" (Gen. 3:9). «Sunt verba Patris quaerentis filium suum perditum» — "These are the words of a Father seeking his lost son" (comments Father Pereira). God has done the same with you many times, my brother. You were fleeing from God, and God went on calling you — now with inspirations, now with remorse of conscience, now with sermons, now with tribulations, now with the death of your friends. It is as if Jesus Christ says, speaking of you: «Laboravi clamans, raucae factae sunt fauces meae» — "I have labored crying out; my throat has become hoarse" (Ps. 68:4). Son, I have almost lost my voice in calling you. Take heed, O sinners, says St. Teresa, that the one calling you is that Lord who must one day judge you.
My Christian, how many times have you played deaf to God who was calling you? You deserved that He should call you no more. But no, your God did not cease to keep calling you, because He wished to make peace with you and to save you. O God, who was it that called you? A God of infinite majesty. And who were you, if not a miserable, stinking worm? And why did He call you? For no other reason than to restore to you the life of grace that you had lost: «Revertimini, et vivite» — "Return, and live" (Ezek. 18:32). For a man to acquire divine grace, it would be little even if he lived in a desert all his life; but God was urging you to receive His grace in a moment, if you wished, with one act of repentance: and you refused it. And for all that, God did not abandon you; He went after you, almost weeping, saying: Son, why do you wish to damn yourself? «Et quare moriemini, domus Israel?» — "And why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 18:31).
When a man commits a mortal sin, he drives God from his soul. «Impii dicebant Deo: Recede a nobis» — "The wicked said to God: Depart from us" (Job 21:14). But what does God do? He places Himself at the door of that ungrateful heart: «Ecce sto ad ostium, et pulso» — "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20). And it seems He begs the soul to give Him entrance: «Aperi mihi, soror mea» — "Open to me, my sister" (Song 5:2). And He wearies Himself in pleading: «Laboravi rogans» — "I have labored in pleading" (Jer. 15:6). Yes, says St. Dionysius the Areopagite, God goes after sinners like a scorned lover, begging them not to perish: «Deus etiam a se aversos amatorie sequitur, et deprecatur ne pereant» — "God lovingly pursues even those who turn away from Him, and beseeches them not to perish." And this is exactly what St. Paul meant when he wrote to the disciples: «Obsecramus pro Christo, reconciliamini Deo» — "We beseech you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). Beautiful is the reflection that St. John Chrysostom makes in commenting on this passage: «Ipse Christus vos obsecrat. Quid autem obsecrat? reconciliamini Deo; non enim Ipse inimicus gerit, sed vos» — "Christ Himself beseeches you. And what does He beseech? Be reconciled to God; for it is not He who is your enemy, but you." And the saint means that it is not the sinner who must struggle to move God to make peace with him; rather, the sinner must resolve to make peace with God, for it is he, not God, who flees from peace.
Ah, this good Lord goes all day in pursuit of so many sinners, and keeps saying to them: Ungrateful souls, flee from Me no more; tell Me, why do you flee? I love your welfare, and desire nothing but to make you happy; why do you wish to lose yourselves? But, Lord, what are You doing? Why such patience and such love toward these rebels? What good do You hope to gain from it? It does little honor to You to let Yourself be seen so ardently attached to these miserable worms that flee from You. «Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? Aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?» — "What is man, that You should magnify him? Or why do You set Your heart upon him?" (Job 7:17).
Affections and Prayers
Behold, Lord, at Your feet the ungrateful one who begs Your mercy: «Pater, dimitte» — "Father, forgive me." I call You Father, because You will that I call You so. My Father, forgive me. I do not deserve compassion, for the better You have been to me, the more ungrateful I have been to You. Ah, for that goodness which held You back, my God, from abandoning me when I fled from You, for that same goodness receive me now that I return to You. Give me, my Jesus, a great sorrow for the offenses I have committed against You, and give me the kiss of peace. I repent, more than of every other evil, of the injuries I have done You; I detest them, I abhor them, and I unite this my abhorrence to that which You, my Redeemer, had for them in the Garden of Gethsemane. Ah, forgive me for the merits of that blood which You shed for me in that garden. I resolutely promise You never to depart from You again, and to drive from my heart every affection that is not for You. My Jesus, my love, I love You above all things, and I wish to love You always, and to love only You; but give me the strength to do it; make me all Yours.
O Mary, my hope, You are the Mother of mercy; pray to God for me, and have pity on me.
Point III
The princes of the earth disdain even to look upon rebellious subjects who come to seek their pardon; but God does not act so with us. «Non avertet faciem suam a vobis, si reversi fueritis ad eum» — "He will not turn His face away from you, if you return to Him" (2 Chron. 30:9). God cannot turn His face away from one who returns to His feet; no, for He Himself invites him and promises to receive him as soon as he comes: «Revertere ad me, et suscipiam te» — "Return to Me, and I will receive you" (Jer. 3:1). «Convertimini ad me, convertar ad vos, ait Dominus» — "Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord" (Zech. 1:3). Oh, the love and tenderness with which God embraces a sinner who returns to Him! This is precisely what Jesus Christ wished to make us understand with the parable of the little sheep which, when the shepherd has found it, he presses upon his shoulders: «Imponit in humeros suos gaudens» — "He lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing" (Luke 15). And he calls his friends to rejoice with him: «Congratulamini mihi, quia inveni ovem meam, quae perierat» — "Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost" (Ibid., v. 6). And then St. Luke adds: «Gaudium erit in coelo super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente» — "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who does penance." This the Redeemer signified still more in the parable of the prodigal son, saying that He is that Father who, seeing his lost son returning, runs to meet him; and before the son can speak, embraces him and kisses him, and in embracing him almost swoons with tenderness for the consolation he feels: «Accurrens cecidit super collum eius, et osculatus est eum» — "Running to him, he fell upon his neck and kissed him" (Luke 15:20).
The Lord goes so far as to say that if the sinner repents, He wills to forget his sins, as if he had never offended Him: «Si impius egerit poenitentiam... vita vivet; omnium iniquitatum eius non recordabor» — "If the wicked man does penance... he shall surely live; I will not remember all his iniquities" (Ezek. 18:21). He even goes so far as to say: «Venite, et arguite me (dicit Dominus), si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur» — "Come, and accuse Me (says the Lord): if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow" (Isa. 1:18). As if He said: come, sinners (come, and accuse Me), and if I do not forgive you, reproach Me and treat Me as faithless. But no — God cannot despise a heart that humbles itself and repents. «Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies» — "A contrite and humbled heart, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 50).
The Lord glories in showing mercy and in forgiving sinners. «Exaltabitur parcens vobis» — "He will be exalted, sparing you" (Isa. 30:18). And how long does He take to forgive? At once. «Plorans nequaquam plorabis, miserans miserabitur tui» — "Weeping, you shall not weep; having pity, He will have pity on you" (Isa. 30:10). Sinner, says the prophet, you will not have long to weep; at the first tear the Lord will be moved to pity for you. «Ad vocem clamoris tui, statim ut audierit, respondebit tibi» — "At the voice of your cry, as soon as He hears it, He will answer you" (Ibid.). God does not act with us as we act with God; God calls us, and we pretend to be deaf; not so God — «statim ut audierit respondebit tibi» — "as soon as He hears, He will answer you": as soon as you repent and ask His pardon, at once God answers and forgives you.
Affections and Prayers
O my God, against whom have I turned? Against You who are so good, who created me and died for me? And who have borne with me so after so many betrayals? Ah, seeing only the patience You have had with me, this alone should make me live always burning with Your love. And who would ever have endured me so much, amid the injuries I have done You, as You have endured me? Poor me, if from this day forward I should return to offending You and damn myself! These mercies You have shown me would be, O God, a hell more painful for me than all of hell. No, my Redeemer, do not permit that I should turn my back on You again. Let me die first. For I see that Your mercy can bear with me no longer. I repent, O supreme Good, of having offended You. I love You with all my heart, and I am resolved to give to You all the life that remains to me. Hear me, Eternal Father, for the merits of Jesus Christ; give me holy perseverance and Your holy love. Hear me, my Jesus, for the blood You have shed for me. «Te ergo, quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemisti» — "We therefore beseech You, help Your servants, whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood."
O Mary, my Mother, look upon me; «illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte» — "turn those merciful eyes of Yours toward us"; and draw me wholly to God.