Monday, May 20, 2019

Monday

2 Samuel, Chapter 14, Verse 14-15

¹⁴ We must indeed die; we are then like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. Yet, though God does not bring back to life, he does devise means so as not to banish anyone from him. ¹⁵ And now, if I have presumed to speak to the king of this matter, it is because the people have given me cause to fear. And so your servant thought: ‘Let me speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the petition of his servant.

Here David is in a quandary; his beloved son has murdered his brother and should be punished. Yet…how can David save his living son and still be just. Joab brings in a wise woman who points out God does not bring the dead to life but devises ways of returning the banished.

Justice and Mercy[1]

A specific feature of the ethics of St. Thomas is that it puts compassion and justice into the closest connection possible to each other. “Justice without mercy is cruel”, says Thomas. But, “Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution"—and, one might add, therefore cruel as well. This close connection between justice and mercy is not sufficiently obvious in human life. The reason for this is not merely the fact that people are often merciless. Rather, it is much more due to the finite character of human existence, which makes all the virtues in the life of the soul appear to be separated from each other and their exercise separate as well. This of course also applies to the virtues of justice and charity, the juxtaposition of which may highlight this fact of separation with particular clarity, so that justice and mercy may sometimes appear to us as as downright opposing intentions. The situation is different with God. “The work of divine justice always presupposes the work of mercy and it founded in it,” says Thomas. So, if God is merciful, then He is not in opposition to justice.

Daily Devotions

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Manhood of Christ Day 4, Eleventh Week.

·         90 Days for our Nation, 54-day rosary-Day 8

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[1]http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4304/the_relationship_of_mercy_and_justice_according_to_st_thomas_aquinas.aspx

[2] http://www.holytrinitygerman.org/Ember-Days.html#Rogationtide

[3]https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2015/02/sanctifying-time-the-catholic-meaning-of-days-and-months/

[4]http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Rogation+Sunday