Great is the mercy of our
God, for he forgives the sins of men no matter how grave they
are.
Great is the Divine Mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ who came down from Heaven to save this wicked
world from eternal damnation.
And yet the Lord came to
teach the way to his Divine Mercy by proclaiming repentance. He
preached "repent, do penance and believe in the good news of
salvation, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
But do not sin and expect to
come to the Divine Mercy when it may be too late. Do not continue
living a life of sin thinking that you can repent and find forgiveness
at the last hour of your life. Pay attention to this warning.
Do not try to outsmart the
Lord who is Wisdom, who reads the thoughts of your mind and
anticipates your every move.
Do not put the Lord to the
test!
Be merciful just as your Father is merciful
(Luke 6:36)
Not
being merciful or not forgiving others is a sin against the Divine
Mercy. Remember the gospel of the man who disregarded the merciful
master.
Matthew 18:21-35 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"
22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him;
25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.
26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'
27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denari; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.'
29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.
31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?'
34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.
35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Warning - Be wise to stop living for
the god of money, or for the god of self, or for your own
gratifications. Do not be too confident of forgiveness and Divine
Mercy, that you add sin to sin.
(Ecclesiacticus) Sirach 5:1-10 Do not rely on your wealth, or say, "I have enough."
2 Do not follow your inclination and strength in pursuing the desires of your heart.
3 Do not say, "Who can have power over me?" for the Lord will surely punish you.
4 Do not say, "I sinned, yet what has happened to me?" for the Lord is slow to anger.
5 Do not be so confident of forgiveness that you add sin to sin.
6 Do not say, "His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins," for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger will rest on sinners.
7 Do not delay to turn back to the Lord, and do not postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you, and at the time of punishment you will perish.
(NRSV)
The Work of God Apostolate
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