Posted on 09/16/2013 11:40:20 AM PDT by NYer
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“On the contrary, mercy is the true force that can save man and the world from the ‘cancer’ of sin, of moral and spiritual evil. Only love fills the emptiness, the negative chasms that evil opens in hearts and history.”
During his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis focused on the three parables in today’s Gospel—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son—and on the centrality of mercy to the Christian life. “If, in our hearts, there is no mercy, no joy of forgiveness, we are not in communion with God, even if we observe all his precepts because it is love that saves, not only the practice of his precepts,” the Holy Father said.
If we live according to the law of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’, we cannot come out of the spiral of evil. The Evil One is smart. He dupes us into thinking that human justice can save us and save the world. In fact, only God’s justice can save us! And God’s justice revealed itself on the Cross. …
All three parables speak of God’s joy. God is joyful! That is something interesting. What is God’s joy? Forgiveness. God’s joy is forgiveness! It is the joy of the shepherd who finds his sheep; the joy of the woman who finds her coin; it is the joy of the father who welcomes home a son who was lost, who was as good as dead, but is alive again, back home. This is the whole Gospel. This is the whole of Christianity!
Yet, there is nothing sentimental about it, nor a sense of ‘doing good’! On the contrary, mercy is the true force that can save man and the world from the ‘cancer’ of sin, of moral and spiritual evil. Only love fills the emptiness, the negative chasms that evil opens in hearts and history. Only love can do this and this is God’s joy.
Jesus is all mercy, all love. He is God made man. Everyone here is the lost sheep, the lost coin, and each of us is the son who has wasted his freedom following false idols, the illusions of happiness, and lost everything. He is a patient father. He respects our freedom, but remains loyal. And when we return to Him, he welcomes us as children, into his house, because he never stops, not even for a moment, to wait for us, with love. And his heart celebrates every child who comes back. He celebrates because it is joy. He celebrates when one of us sinners comes back.
What is the danger? To think that we are just; that we can judge others; that we can judge God because we think he should punish sinners; condemn them to death, instead of forgiving them. That is when we risk remaining outside of our Father’s house! Like the older brother in the parable, who instead of being happy because his brother was back, got angry with his father who welcomes him and celebrates. …
Only God’s justice can save us! And God’s justice revealed itself on the Cross. The Cross is God’s judgment on all of us and on this world. But how does God judge us? By giving his life for us. Behold the supreme act of justice that defeated once and for all the Prince of this world. This supreme act of justice is also one of mercy. Jesus called us all to follow this path. “Be merciful,” he said, “just as [. . .] your Father is merciful” (Lk, 6:36).
Now I ask you one thing. Let each one of you think about a person with whom you do not get along, with whom you are angry. In silence, think about this person, pray for this person and let yourself become merciful towards this person.
Catholic ping!
The very first deception is still alive and well -
“you will be as gods, knowing good and evil”
Secular humanist godless atheist Communists call it “Just Us” for a reason.
They believe they can construct a Socialist Utopian Paradise. If just all of the deniers and non-believers of Marxism could be put into the ground.
That is an ignorant (I will give him the benefit of the doubt and won't accuse him of being disingenuous) understanding of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. That law was intended to circumscribe punishment, but he is presenting it as an encouragement of revenge.
There are, at minimum, at least two audiences for the Holy Father’s remarks. The good and the evil. I don’t mean to project here, but something was missing for me.
While there is peace and comfort in such truth, I can not stop fighting, nor use the Pope’s remarks either, as reason to become frozen in place, impotent, or paralyzed to engage.
It is not a sin to possess an informed conscience, which equips us to judge good and evil, to protest socialism and communism, and to battle against it on the field as well as on the knees.
There is something missing, here, for the good warrior? Say something to him, please.
For me, there is “the kindness and the sternness of God”. These work together somehow, but with the goal of ending up in His kindness. I agree with Francis here. There is no human effort of “right” that can save. Love in Christ is the answer, and most of the world remains blind to that. If we’ve had our eyes opened to truth, even a wee bit, the increase of wickedness threatens to turn our love cold. Abiding in Him is the answer!
“The LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”
The Evil One dupes people into believing that stealing from Peter to pay Paul creates “Social Justice”.
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Immediately followed by the second one .... The Devil does not exist.
But Christ Himself superseded the Mosaic "an eye for an eye" in the fifth of the Six Antitheses(in Matthew 5). I think Pope Francis is pointing out the superiority of the Christian perspective to the Mosaic.
The Evil One also makes men think their disbelief in the Creator will not keep them from living eternally. :(
**The Evil One also makes men think their disbelief in the Creator will not keep them from living eternally. :(**
And thus they rationalize that it’s OK if I don’t go to Church; it’s OK if I don’t tithe.
There will likely be many more good people in Hell as evil people.
Uh, because it IS OK if they don’t go to a ‘CHURCH’, or if they don’t ‘tithe’. If they are saved, the ARE the Church, and if they read Romans through Philemon, they will find out that in this age of grace, we no longer perform things that are for the Jews. Which titheing is, of course.
This is a common tactic of the Left and those who espouse an effeminate faith. "Sure, he raped and murdered that little girl, but who are we to judge? We must forgive him and he must be allowed to live."
People who think this way say "God is love" but they mean "Love is God."
Most of Leviticus is about making the punishment fit the crime.
And the Evil One will convince people that they don’t even have to go to church, don’t have to obey the Ten Commandments, don’t have to pray, etc. etc.
Supporting your church is a duty.
I feel sorry for those who think they don’t need a church and can do it all on their own — without God!
and I feel sorry for those who think they are impressing God with their titheing and “church” going. They think they can do it all on their own-without God!
One more: “Supporting your Church is a duty”. If that “church” isn’t giving you the gospel of your salvation, and the finished work of Christ as your only hope for reconciliation with God, then it is your duty to FLEE that church, not support it. Yes, even though it’s pretty and smells good.
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