Lost Innocence
Hi! How is each and every
one? How I pray and wish each one
experiences the joy that many of us, friends and relations are experiencing these
days. Graces abound in the
surroundings. Persons are high-spirited,
responsive, up and about preparing for the coming of The Father as each and
every one call him. Still everything goes as usual but with more activity,
intention, and excitement? Persons who
least expect are overwhelmed. One can easily
get surprises. Each one needs to be attentive to the breeze and act on whatever
needs to be acted on.
Well for now this post
has to be published. It is an excerpt on
lost innocence (From Joseph Tissot, How to profit from your faults, pp. 115-116)
that can always be regained but never completely
recovered through the right way. It is a continuation of the previous post.
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It is greatly loved by his Son who has appropriated
it for himself and his Mother. Never can
the bitter perfumes of repentance equal the pure aroma that exudes from a pure
life. Just as the lily stands out among
other flowers, so also innocence always retains a striking freshness and
special fragrance.
Moreover, the loss of innocence results in the loss
of a certain dignity. And this lost
innocence is never completely recovered.
In any case, although one does not recover lost
innocence, the penitent sinner, according to the doctrine of St. Thomas finds a
bigger treasure. According to St.
Gregory the ravages caused by past transgressions, when seriously pondered, are
compensated for by subsequent advantages.
They also become the cause for great joy in
Heaven. It is like a soldier who takes
to his heels and flees the battlefield, but later returns to it. Such a soldier is dearer to his captain than
a soldier who remains at his post but is not outstanding for any special act of
bravery (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa
Theologia, IIIa, q. 89, a.3).
For his part, the merciful Savior grants such favors
to the guilty who return to him. He
covers them with an effusion of his precious Blood. He knows the situation well, for where sin increased, grace abounded all the
more (Rom 5:20). In the words of our
Saint, he transforms “our miseries into grace, and thorns into an antidote that
leads to our salvation. Remember Job,
the very image of a penitent sinner. He
received twice what he used to have” (Treatise
on the Love of God, 1, II, 12ff).
Now I find myself in need
of re-reading the story of Job. Join me in
doing so. I suppose you know that I
always have each one of you in mind and heart, in prayers and offerings. And so I am confident that you too will
experience the abundance of blessings and graces that I myself am feeling? Experiencing?
And talking about.
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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