Devotion to the Sacred Heart in June: day 16
16nd June
Our Father, who art in heaven, may your name be sanctified, your kingdom come, your will be done, as in heaven as on earth. Give us our daily bread today, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Invocation. - Heart of Jesus, victim of sinners, have mercy on us!
Intention. - Repair the impurities and scandals of the world.
ABUSE OF DIVINE MERCY
In the preceding days we have considered the mercy of God; now let's consider his justice.
The thought of divine goodness is comforting, but that of divine justice is more fruitful, though less pleasant. God does not have to consider himself only half, as St. Basil says, that is, thinking him only good; God is also just; and since the abuses of divine mercy are frequent, let us meditate on the rigors of divine justice, so as not to fall into the misfortune of the abuse of the goodness of the Sacred Heart.
After sin, we must hope for mercy, think of the goodness of that Divine Heart, which welcomes the repentant soul with love and joy. The despair of forgiveness, even after an endless number of serious sins, is an insult to the Heart of Jesus, source of goodness.
But before committing a serious sin, one must think of the terrible justice of God, which can delay punishing the sinner (and this is mercy!), But he will certainly punish him, either in this or in the other life.
Many sin, thinking: Jesus is good, he is the Father of mercy; I will do a sin and then I will confess it. Certainly God will forgive me. How many times has he forgiven me! ...
Saint Alfonso says: God does not deserve mercy, whoever uses his mercy to offend him. Those who offend divine justice can resort to mercy. But who offends mercy by abusing it, to whom will it appeal?
God says: Do not say: God's mercy is great and will have compassion on the multitude of my sins (... therefore I can sin!) (Eccl., VI).
The goodness of God is infinite, but the acts of his mercy, in relations with individual souls, are finished. If the Lord always endured the sinner, no one would go to hell; instead it is known that many souls are damned.
God promises forgiveness and willingly grants it to the repentant soul, determined to leave sin; but whoever sins, says St. Augustine, abusing divine goodness, is not a penitent, but a mocker of God. - God is not joking! - says Saint Paul (Galati, VI, 7).
The hope of the sinner after guilt, when there is true repentance, is dear to the Heart of Jesus; but the hope of obstinate sinners is the abomination of God (Job, XI, 20).
Some say: The Lord has used me so much mercy in the past; I hope you will use it in the future too. - Answer:
And for this you want to return to offend him? Don't you think so you despise the goodness of God and weary his patience? It is true that the Lord has endured you in the past, but he has done so to give you time to repent of sins and cry them, not to give you time to offend him again!
It is written in the book of Psalms: If you are not converted, the Lord will turn his sword (Psalms, VII, 13). Whoever abuses divine mercy, fear the abandonment of God! Either he dies suddenly while he sins or is deprived of abundant divine graces, so he will not have the strength to leave evil and die in sin. The abandonment of God leads to blindness of the mind and hardening of the heart. The stubborn soul in evil is like a campaign without a wall and without a hedge. The Lord says: I will remove the hedge and the vineyard will be devastated (Isaiah, V, 5).
When a soul abuses divine goodness, it is abandoned like this: God takes away the hedge of his fear, the remorse of conscience, the light of the mind and then all the monsters of the vices will enter that soul (Psalms, CIII, 20) .
The sinner abandoned by God despises everything, peace of heart, admonitions, Heaven! Try to enjoy and be distracted. The Lord sees it and still waits; but the longer the punishment, the greater it will be. - We use mercy to the wicked, says God, and he will not recover! (Isaiah, xxvi, 10).
Oh what punishment it is when the Lord leaves the sinful soul in his sin and it seems that he does not ask him for it! God is waiting for you to make you victims of his justice in eternal life. It is a horrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!
The prophet Jeremiah asks: Why does everything go according to the wicked? Then he replies: You, O God, gather them as flock to the slaughterhouse (Jeremiah, XII, 1).
There is no greater punishment than allowing God that the sinner adds sins to sins, according to what David says: They add iniquity to iniquity ... Let them be erased from the book of the living! (Psalms, 68).
O sinner, think! You sin and God, by his mercy, is silent, but not always silent. When the hour of justice comes, he will say to you: These iniquities you have made and I have kept silent. You believed, unfairly, that I am like you! I'll take you and put you against your own face! (Psalms, 49).
The mercy that the Lord uses the obstinate sinner will be the cause of the most terrible judgment and condemnation.
Devout souls of the Sacred Heart, thank Jesus for the mercy that has used you in the past; promise never to abuse his goodness; repair today, and even every day, the innumerable abuses that the wicked of divine mercy do and so you will console his afflicted Heart!
The Comedian
S. Alfonso, in his book «Apparatus to death», narrates:
A comedian had presented himself to Father Luigi La Nusa, in Palermo, who, driven by the remorse of the scandal, decided to confess. Ordinarily, those who live long in impurity do not usually detach themselves resolutely from vice. The holy priest, by divine illustration, saw the poor state of that comedian and his little goodwill; therefore he said to him: Do not abuse divine mercy; God still gives you twelve years to live; if you do not correct yourself within this time, you will make a bad death. -
The sinner was initially impressed, but then he dived into the sea of pleasures and you no longer feel remorse. One day he met a friend and to see him thoughtfully, he said to him: What happened to you? - I've been to confession; I see that my conscience is cheated! - And leave the melancholy! Enjoy life! Woe to be impressed by what a Confessor says! Know that one day Father La Nusa told me that God was still giving me twelve years of life and that if in the meantime I had not left the impurity, I would have died badly. Just in this month I am twelve years old, but I am fine, I enjoy the stage, the pleasures are all mine! Do you want to be cheerful? Come next Saturday to see a new comedy, composed by me. -
On Saturday, November 24, 1668, while the artist was about to appear on the scene, he was struck by paralysis and died in the arms of a woman, even a comedian. And so ended the comedy of his life!
He who lives badly, evil dies!
Foil. Devoutly reciting the Rosary, so that Our Lady will free us from the fury of divine justice, especially at the hour of death.
Ejaculation. From your anger; deliver us, O Lord!