After all, God is invariably merciful!
With this article we are starting a New TopicRelated to the Diary of Saint Faustina.
For the next few days we will meditate on:GOD IS OUR PROTECTION AGAINST OURSELVES.Divine Mercy and the Punishment for Sin According to the Diary of St. Faustina
God's anger and punishment consists in the fact that God leaves sinners to themselves and gives them what they want. Only anthropomorphically we can imagine; that God now is merciful, but on the day of judgment he will be just. He is invariably merciful and just; it is the sinner who, once he decides to reject God's mercy, closes himself ultimately and irrevocably.
Reflection on the concept of God's punishment in the Diary of Saint Faustina, let's start from a reminder of the opposition of the time of mercy to the coming day of justice.
"Secretary of My mercy - says the Lord Jesus to the Saint in a vision on February 17, 1937 - write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. "(965).
" I have eternity for punishing," - Jesus explained in a different vision - "and so I am prolonging the time of mercy, for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation." (Diary 1160). Earlier, on Christmas 1936: " Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about My mercy. […] It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them.
"O human souls, where are you going to hide on the day of God’s anger: Take refuge now in the fount of God’s mercy”- adds Faustina (Diary 848).
Nine months earlier, on the feast of the Annunciation, the Mother of God told Saint Faustina the same: “I gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the end. I sympathize with you.” (Diary 635) Yes, in the above texts, God’s mercy is opposed His justice, however, the sense of these texts is a call not to waste God's time of mercy. It is not, therefore, that at some point the merciful God will change into a just God.
The old truth presented in dramatic form that death will perpetuate our spiritual situation and then we will no longer be able to convert - this truth, which is the metaphor of closed doors,expresses in the New Testament (cf. Mt 25:10) a call to do good as long as we have time (cf. Gal 6:10).
It is worth remembering that in the Bible this truth is presented in a similarly dramatic form: " Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to save them on the day of the LORD'S wrath. When in the fire of his jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. For he shall make an end, yes, a sudden end, of all who live on the earth." (Zeph 1:18; cf. 3:8) or "a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries" (Heb 10:27).
As we know, Satan often tempts Sister Faustina to proclaim the eschatology of fear instead of the message of mercy. "I heard the cry of Satan - once Faustina writes – Do not write about the goodness of God; He is just!” And howling with fury, he vanished." (Diary 1338).
"The tempter went on" - Sister notes a few months before her death - he says to me: “Why should you bother about other souls? You ought to be praying only for yourself. As for sinners, they will be converted without your prayers. I see that you are suffering very much at this moment. I’m going to give you a piece of advice on which your happiness will depend: Never speak about God’s mercy and, in particular, do not encourage sinners to trust in God’s mercy, because they deserve a just punishment." (Diary 1497)
We will continue tomorrow.
Fr. george