By Henry Aloysius Barry
The hardened man, therefore, lives unconverted in the one case because he despairs of the forgiveness of his sins, and in the other because he so trusts in the mercy of God that he remains in his perverse ways to the very end of the present life. Wherefore, loving God's mercies and fearing His justices, let us neither despair of the forgiveness of our sins nor remain in our sins. Let us not forget that the equity of the most just Judge will exact from all men the debts which the mercies of the most clement Redeemer shall not have remitted, for, as the mercy of God takes back unto herself and absolves the converted, so also shall justice repudiate and punish the obdurate, for, these are the ones who, sinning against the Holy Ghost, will, neither in this life or the life to come, receive the remission of their sins." (De fide, ad Petrum diac.)
Despair comes next in the catalogue of sins against the Holy Ghost. It is a crime against the Holy Scripture, maligning as it does the goodness of God revealed therein and the very essence of the Redeemer's life and design. Wisdom says: "Thou hast mercy upon all, because Thou canst do all things, and overlooketh the sins of men, for the sake of repentance. For Thou lovest all things that are and hatest none of the things which thou hast made, for Thou didst not appoint nor make anything hating it." (xi, 24, 25.) St. Paul speaks of our Lord "Who will have all men to be saved— Who gave Himself a redemption for all." (I. Timothy ii, 4, 6) St. John repeats the truth — "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ourselves only but for the whole world." (I. John ii, 2.) It is a fearsome blunder to suppose that our Lord would hold out false hopes or make promises of mercy and peace, which the Father should fail to ratify,—"the words that I speak to you, I speak not of Myself, but the Father Who abideth in Me, He doth the works." (John xiv, 10.) Despair is a sin against the foundation of salvation,—the mercy of God, and arises from one or the other of two false assumptions, namely, that God is unable or unwilling to forgive or that our sins, on the other hand, shall have reached a proportion that puts forgiveness out of consideration. Repentance only is required for forgiveness of any number of sins, but there is no hope of this, of course, so long as one rejects the idea of God's "infinite" mercy, that is to say, mercy without any bounds whatever. In order to prevail over this fatal illusion one should reflect on the conduct of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. His whole system is mercy, unfailing mercy. He sat soul-thirsty by the well to meet the Samaritan woman; He broke bread with the publican; He undertook the defence of the adulterous woman, only exacting from her the mere repentance of her evil life; in charming parables He set forth His own heart, His infinite love and divine mercy. The Good Shepherd, rushing in all haste through the brambles and thickets, wading knee-deep in the slough, scudding across valleys and hills to overtake the lost sheep— what is this but a picturesque view of the Incarnation— and Redemption? for, indeed, our Lord lost His life in the pursuit. The Prodigal Son is but another description, in altered figure, of this same divine work. Despair is distinctly anti-christian; it is pre-eminently the sin of the Gentiles,— "Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through their ignorance, that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts, who despairing, have given themselves up to uncleanness." (Eph. iv, 18,19.) The apostle appeals to us to put off this despondency, built upon misconception, and with pathos pleads with us to "grieve not the holy spirit of God." (iv, 30.) "Do not, therefore," says St. Paul, "lose your confidence." Let us now listen to the words of St. Augustine,—"It is not the man who has sinned that is odious and abominable, but the man who perseveres in his sins; for, in order that no man should lack confidence, the Lord, like a most tender father, consoles us through the prophets. (Ezch. xxxiii, 12.) 'I desire not the death of the wicked,'... 'the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him in whatsoever day he shall turn from his wickedness.' But, mayhap, some one might give shelter to the idea that because he has sinned so outrageously he cannot merit, any longer, the mercies of God. Far be such a thought from the minds of all sinners.
