The Ongoing Battle ♥ Despair Vs Trust, Pride Vs Humility

It was pride that caused the fall of humanity—the same sin belonging to the fallen angels.

And it is pride again that prevents us from seeking God’s Mercy. It falsely justifies our faults, and thus blocks the path of humbling oneself to acknowledge one’s weakness and seek the help and forgiveness of God. Or it may instead cause us to consider that our sins are greater than God’s mercy and despair. Oh what folly indeed—to think that anything we do (or fail to do) could be greater than the infinite God.

When a soul no longer trusts in God’s mercy, when it no longer seeks the forgiveness of God (which it needs to be reunited with God)—that is despair.

Jesus told Sister Benigna Consolata in Italy (1903): “The Devil causes the greatest harm to souls when, after he has plunged them into sin, he inspires them to mistrust Me. So long as a soul has confidence, the way is open; but if the wicked enemy succeeds in closing the heart against Me, oh, what effort it costs Me to win that soul again. It is certain that a hundred sins offend Me more than one; But IF THAT ONE SIN IS A SIN OF MISTRUST, IT WOUNDS MY HEART MORE THAN THE OTHER HUNDRED. Mistrust wounds My heart to the quick, for I love mankind so dearly!”

Just imagine how we would feel, if we found out that a person whom we greatly loved believed in the lie that we didn’t love him/her. How hurt we would feel…

It (the pain) would be so much more amplified for Jesus who once told Sister Josepha Menendez (Died 1923), “I want to forgive. I am Love and Mercy. For love of souls, I instituted the Sacrament of Penance that I might forgive them, not once or twice, but as often as they need to recover grace. There I wait for them, longing to wash away their sins, not in water, but in My Blood.”

And on another occasion, “I love those who after the first fall, come to Me for pardon. I love them still more when they beg for pardon for their second sin, And should this happen again, I do not say a million times, BUT A MILLION MILLION TIMES I STILL LOVE THEM AND PARDON THEM, and I will wash in My Blood their last as fully as their first sin.”

“Yahweh is tenderness and pity, slow to anger and rich in faithful love… As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats those who fear him; he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust.” Psalms 103: 8;13-14

It is not enough to believe in God. We must believe in God’s love and rely on God’s Inexhaustible Mercy. He is not just our God, but he is also our loving Father.

To learn about the Divine Mercy Devotion Click Here 

Ref: 'I Will Forgive A Million Million Times If Necessary' by Stephen Oraze, R.I.P.

I Forget ♥ But He Remembers

One of my constant and regrettable faults is that every time I fall into sin, I turn my mind away from God, consciously avoiding all thoughts about him… just like the child who avoids looking into his or her parents’ eyes after having done something wrong—afraid to see the angry look upon their faces. If I only knew/remembered at that moment after the fall, that what I would have seen (if I didn’t turn my face away) were not the angry judgmental eyes of a punishing God but the sad gentle loving eyes of the merciful God.  But since I was looking the other way, I didn’t, and so left his presence. I didn’t open my heart to his gentle call to come back. And so I delved deeper into darkness. Feeling sad, miserable, and rotten all around, I made everyone else around me suffer, sinking deeper and deeper and deeper…

The farther and farther away one is from God, the harder and harder it gets to go back to him. The senses become confused and muddled, and it’s ever so easy to get lost. I get lost a lot. But God has blessed me with friends and family who keep praying for me.  And so God comes to me in those dark nights, as gentle as the soft breeze blowing, and offers me his hand. Then I see the soft eyes that I should have seen earlier. All I have to do is say sorry, and he will forgive me. I do, and he does. If only I had remembered his mercy…I would have been saved from so much misery. This life is filled with too many “If only-s”. Thankfully though, God’s in charge.

“As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness… I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.” Ezekial 34: 12; 16

God is a God of Mercy.  More on this subject soon.