Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verse 2-4
2 The spirit of the LORD
shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of
counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, 3 and his delight shall be the fear
of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, 4 But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with
the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
AN EXCERPT FROM BEAUTIFUL MERCY
By Matt Fradd
Several years ago, as I stood in line for the sacrament of
confession about to confess for the umpteenth time a sin I couldn’t seem to
quit, I began to fear that God’s mercy was running out. I didn’t doubt that God
would pardon a person who turned to him after a life of the most heinous sins
imaginable. What I did doubt was that he would continue to forgive me. How many
times have I said, “I will never do this again,” only to return to that sin
like a dog to its vomit (see 2 Peter 2:22)? At that moment, by God’s grace, no
doubt, I was reminded of the incident in the Gospel of Matthew when Peter
approached Our Lord with a question:
Then Peter
came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and
I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you
seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Now Jesus did not mean that Peter was to forgive his brother 490
times and then no more. No, rather, “seventy times seven” signified perfection
and consistency. It then occurred to me, if God’s forgiveness is not like
that—perfect and consistent—then Jesus was commanding Peter to act in a way
that was contrary to the nature of God. The truth is, God is infinite in all of
his attributes. In fearing that God’s mercy was slowly evaporating, I was
unintentionally making God in my image. If you have ever been tempted to doubt
God’s mercy as I did, or if you’re tempted to do that now, please ingrain the
following words from St. Claude de la Colombiere into your brain:
I glorify
you in making known how good you are towards sinners, and that your mercy
prevails over all malice, that nothing can destroy it, that no matter how many
times or how shamefully we fall, or how criminally, a sinner need not be driven
to despair of [God’s] pardon. . It is in vain that your enemy and
mine sets traps for me every day. He will make me lose everything else before
the hope that I have in your mercy.
Regardless of
where you have been or what you have done, be at peace. The same God who
forgave Moses the murderer, Rahab the prostitute, David the adulterer, and
Peter the denier will forgive you. All you have to do is seek that forgiveness
with a contrite heart. The only sin God won’t forgive is the one you will not
ask forgiveness for.[1]
COURAGE FOR THE MODERN WORLD 2017 #2017CALENDAR
Authored by Mr. Richard H. Havermale Jr.This book is the continuation of my first book based on more than 365 references in the Bible to fear, dread, and that in fact our God encourages us to "BE NOT AFRAID". To do this we must be in the presence of our Lord and talk to Him. I recommend you develop the habit of spending 10-15 minutes a day with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel or if that is not available some other quiet place where you can be in the presence of our Lord. Read the daily entry and reflect on it asking our Lord and His mother to talk to your heart and reveal to you the will of the Father and then Do it. The layout of this book is to list and reflect on the books of the bible Sirach through Revelations. In the early part of September my search of the verses dealing with fear and being afraid was completed; so I asked the Lord what do I, do now. After some reflection I realize that the fruit of fear in the Lord is the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love which ultimately results in Peace of the Lord. As a consequence the month of September will deal with Peace, October with Love and the month of November will be reflections on Faith and Hope. After Thanksgiving for the season of Advent and Christmas this work uses a multitude of references that reflect the Christmas season. There are many theologians who state that the eighth deadly sin is fear itself. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. Saint John Paul II in his writings and talks also tells us to BE NOT AFRAID. In fear or anger we walk away from God. Our Lord, Jesus Christ taught us how to walk back toward God in His sermon on the mount through the Beatitudes. Each of the beatitudes is the antidote for the opposite deadly sins.
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