Suffering the Pain of Sin
Hi! How is each and every one? Today is the 26th of the month and it is the feast day of St. Josemaria, the Saint of the Ordinary, Founder of Opus Dei. As expected the Church celebrates the feast of the saint of each day. And this is what is happening in many parishes today. For instance, there is one in Manila Cathedral, Intramuros, Manila this evening at 6. There are also a good number of short videos by Beta films and Formato available in Youtube.
We have been watching at
least one each evening and I find every film so good, soothing and revitalizing
for the whole family. They are short and
sweet videos. Following is the link,
https://opusdei.org/es-es/article/encuentros-tertulias-san-josemaria-brasil-peru-brafa-argentina/
Today’s post is an
excerpt on suffering the pain of sin (From
Joseph Tissot, How to profit from your
faults pp. 112-113).
St. Francis de Sales recommends in one of his
letters: “My daughter, go in peace, your
confessions have been good even to excess.
From now on concentrate on progressing in virtue and think no longer of
you past sins. If at all you do so, it
should be to humble yourself before God, who has forgiven you by means of the
Divine Sacrament, and beg for his mercy” (Letter to a lady 585).
“You know that your faults have delayed your
progress in virtue. Well, then, humble
yourself before God, implore his mercy, prostrate yourself before his goodness,
and beg for his forgiveness. Confess
your faults, and thank him through the ear of your confessor in order to
receive absolution. Having done this,
remain in peace. After detesting your
mistake, lovingly accept the consequent displeasure at your slow spiritual
progress. Alas! My Theotimus, souls in
purgatory are probably there because of their sins, which they detested
supremely. However, as regards the
regret and pain they suffer, they do so by being detained in a state deprived
for a time of the joy of the blessed in paradise. They suffer this state
lovingly and sing with devotion the canticle of divine justice: Righteous
art thou, O Lord, and right are thy judgments (Ps 119:137).”
One would be quite justified in asking: Is it possible to accept God’s will if an
inspired work comes to nought because of the mistake of the one to whom it was
entrusted? For, although it is permitted
by God, this result is not of God’s will but of my failing. “It is true, my child, that your fault is not
produced by the will of God, for God is not the author of sin. However, the divine will permits your fault to
bring about your undoing and your failure as a punishment. Although his goodness does not will your
fault, his justice wants you to suffer from the consequent pain. He did not want David to sin, either. But he inflicted on him the pain of his
sin. He is not the cause of Saul’s sin,
but allowed him to be defeated as a punishment.
“When the plans of God do not succeed in punishing
our faults, on our part we should hate the mistake through sincere repentance
and accept the pain that follows. Just
as sin is against God’s will, so also pain is the result of his permitting it”
(Treatise on the Love of
God,
1, 4, 6).
It is sometimes painful to do the
right thing, but it is always more painful to do the wrong thing. David commits adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of
one of his loyal commanders. There is greater pain in sin than in righteousness (iDisciple).
May you and I consider the above in the silence of our conversation with
the Holy Spirit in prayer and listen to what He tells us. He will surely tell each one of us what
exactly pertains to each one given her particular situation and circumstances.
See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may
you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care;
‘til He brings us together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
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