Devotion to the Sacred Heart: meditation on June 17th
THE NUMBER OF SINS
17 DAY
Pater Noster.
Invocation. - Heart of Jesus, victim of sinners, have mercy on us!
Intention. - Repair the abuse that so many make of God's mercy.
THE NUMBER OF SINS
Consider the abuse of divine mercy in relation to the number of sins. Send the mercy of God to hell instead of justice (St. Alfonso). If the Lord immediately chastised those who offended him, time after time, he would certainly be offended much less; but because he uses mercy and patiently waits, sinners take advantage to continue to offend him.
The Doctors of the Holy Church teach, including St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, who as God keeps the number of days of life determined for each person, after which death will come, so he still keeps determined the number of sins he wants to forgive , accomplished which divine justice will come.
Sinful souls, who have little desire to leave evil, do not take into account the number of their sins and believe that it matters little to sin ten times or twenty or a hundred; but the Lord takes this into account and waits, in his mercy, for the last sin to come, the one that will complete the measure, to apply his justice.
In the book of Genesis (XV - 16) we read: The iniquities of the Amorites are not yet complete! - This passage from Sacred Scripture shows that the Lord delayed the punishment of the Amorites, because the number of their faults was not yet complete.
The Lord also said: I will no longer have compassion on Israel (Hosea, 1-6). They tempted me ten times ... and they will not see the promised land (Num., XIV, 22).
It is therefore advisable to be attentive to the number of serious sins and remember the words of God: Of forgiven sin, do not be without fear and do not add sin to sin! (Eccl., V, 5).
Unhappy those who accumulate sins and then, from time to time, go to lay them down to the confessional, to return soon with another load!
Some investigate the number of stars and angels. But who can know the number of years of life that God gives everyone? And who knows what the number of sins that God will want to forgive the sinner? And could it not be that that sin you are about to commit, wretched creature, is precisely what will complete the measure of your iniquity?
S. Alfonso and other sacred writers teach him that the Lord does not take into account the years of men, but their sins, and that the number of iniquities he wants to forgive varies from person to person; to those who forgive a hundred sins, to those who are thousand and to whom one.
Our Lady manifested to a certain Benedetta of Florence, that a twelve year old girl was sentenced to hell at the first sin (S. Alfonso).
Perhaps someone will boldly ask God for reason why one soul forgives more and another less. The mystery of divine mercy and divine justice must be worshiped and said with St. Paul: O depth of the riches of the wisdom and science of God! How incomprehensible his judgments are, inscrutable his ways! (Romans, XI, 33).
St. Augustine says: When God uses mercy with one, he uses it freely; when he denies it, he does it with justice. -
From the consideration of God's tremendous justice, let us try to reap practical results.
Let us put the sins of past life in the Heart of Jesus, trusting in his infinite mercy. In the future, however, we are careful not to seriously offend the Divine Majesty.
When the devil invites to sin and deceives by saying: You are still young! ... God has always forgiven you and will forgive you again! ... - answer: And if this sin completes the number of my sins and mercy will cease for me, what will happen to my soul? ...
EXAMPLE
Solemn punishment
By the time of Abraham, the cities of Pentapoli had given themselves to the deepest immorality; the most serious faults were committed in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Those unhappy inhabitants did not count their sins, but God counted them. When the number of sins was complete, when the measure was at its peak, divine justice was manifested.
The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah became louder and their sins became too huge. I will send the punishment! -
Knowing the mercy of God, Abraham said: Will you, Lord, die the righteous with the wicked? If there were fifty right people in Sodom, would you forgive?
- If I find in the city of Sodom fifty righteous ... or forty ... or even ten, I will spare the punishment. -
These few good souls were not there and God's mercy gave way to justice.
One morning, while the sun was rising, the Lord made a terrible rain fall on sinful cities, not of water, but of sulfur and fire; everything went up in flames. The inhabitants in desperation tried to save themselves, but no one succeeded, except the family of Abraham, who had been forewarned to flee.
The fact is narrated by Sacred Scripture and should be well thought out by those who easily sin, regardless of the number of sins.
Foil. Avoiding occasions where there is a danger of offending God.
Ejaculation. Heart of Jesus, give me strength in temptations!