By Henry Aloysius Barry
O man, whosoever among you looks upon such a great multitude of sins, wherefore do you not also turn your attention to the omnipotence of the heavenly physician? For, inasmuch as God has a mind to show mercy because He is good and can show mercy, because He is all-powerful, you, on the contrary, shut against your own faces the gates of divine mercy if you believe that God either has no wish to show mercy or no power to do so, and are distrustful of His goodness or omnipotence. Let no one, therefore, despair of the divine mercy after a hundred sins, nay, a thousand sins." (Ser. 58, De Temp.) St. John Chrysostom takes up the refrain,—"O high mercy of God! for, when the whole world lay sin shackled, the creator of the universe comes forward and invades the strongholds of the sinful so that no one ever after should despair of salvation. Are you wicked, look at the publican; are you unclean, see the harlot; are you a man-slayer, look at the robber; are you bad, reflect on the blasphemer. Consider the apostle Paul, some time persecutor, afterward herald; some time slayer, afterward dispenser; before, cockle, afterwards grain; at one time a wolf, afterwards a shepherd; at one time lead, afterwards gold; at one time pirate, afterwards pilot; once a scatterer of the sheep, afterwards a steward of the church, and at first an uprooter, afterwards an upbuilder. You have seen a many-sided wickedness, but cast your eyes upon mercy unspeakable. You have seen the servant's pride, consider the Lord's benevolence; don't say to me, I am a blasphemer, and, don't say, I am a persecutor, I am unclean; you have seen examples of all this. Go whither you will, to the Old or the New Testament; in the Old, you have David, in the New, Paul. Don't offer me excuses, I don't want you to pretend ignorance to me. You have sinned— repent! A thousand times you have sinned—a thousand times do penance. This is the course which I strenuously advise, and I would do away with all fears, for, I am aware of the sufferings of conscience, I know how very much despair means. The devil stands by whetting his sword, and his speech runs after this fashion: You have abused your whole youth, you have wasted your whole life, you used to patronize the theatre with your friends; you resorted to the circus with your associates and to dens of shame with harlots; then again you used to steal, you cultivated avarice, you have been a swearer and a blasphemer; fie! fie!—what hope of salvation is there for the like of you? You are lost! You are lost! Go on, therefore, and take all possible advantage of the pleasures the world has to offer you; let your heart go out to its joys.
"This is the language of the devil; this is what he advises, but the advice I would give you runs just in the opposite direction. If you have fallen you can rise again; you are lost, but you can be saved, you have been a fornicator, but you can be continent in the future; you have sinned, but you can be delivered; you have gone to the play, but you can retrace your steps; you have consorted with bad men, but, withdraw from them and keep good company; you are free to choose either course. Make some effort at least to begin your conversion, to have some mite of repentance. Let your eyes send forth tears, stir up your conscience, look into yourself, bring the Judgment Day before your eyes, consider the delights of Paradise, prepared for the holy ones. You have committed murder—repent! If you have sinned, confess your sins! You have fallen away, get on your feet again. You have been wounded, make use of the cure whilst you have life, whilst you have breath, aye, whilst you are lying on your very bed, aye, if I may say so, breathing your last breath, that ere you make your exit you may be set free from your chains. Repent, the shortness of time is no barrier to the mercy of God! What is it compared to the mercy of God? a dry chip driven before the wind. If God wills it so, let no man gainsay. Ah, beloved, I speak in this strain to you, not, indeed, to make you any the more neglectful, but, rather, to lead you on to a trust in the bright future. Never despair of yourselves; confide in the mercy of God. Despair rather of him who shall have despaired of himself, who does not wish to retrace his steps, who despises and condemns the Precepts of God and has not the faintest idea that he is ever going to die." (In Ps. L, hom. 2.)
O man, whosoever among you looks upon such a great multitude of sins, wherefore do you not also turn your attention to the omnipotence of the heavenly physician? For, inasmuch as God has a mind to show mercy because He is good and can show mercy, because He is all-powerful, you, on the contrary, shut against your own faces the gates of divine mercy if you believe that God either has no wish to show mercy or no power to do so, and are distrustful of His goodness or omnipotence. Let no one, therefore, despair of the divine mercy after a hundred sins, nay, a thousand sins." (Ser. 58, De Temp.) St. John Chrysostom takes up the refrain,—"O high mercy of God! for, when the whole world lay sin shackled, the creator of the universe comes forward and invades the strongholds of the sinful so that no one ever after should despair of salvation. Are you wicked, look at the publican; are you unclean, see the harlot; are you a man-slayer, look at the robber; are you bad, reflect on the blasphemer. Consider the apostle Paul, some time persecutor, afterward herald; some time slayer, afterward dispenser; before, cockle, afterwards grain; at one time a wolf, afterwards a shepherd; at one time lead, afterwards gold; at one time pirate, afterwards pilot; once a scatterer of the sheep, afterwards a steward of the church, and at first an uprooter, afterwards an upbuilder. You have seen a many-sided wickedness, but cast your eyes upon mercy unspeakable. You have seen the servant's pride, consider the Lord's benevolence; don't say to me, I am a blasphemer, and, don't say, I am a persecutor, I am unclean; you have seen examples of all this. Go whither you will, to the Old or the New Testament; in the Old, you have David, in the New, Paul. Don't offer me excuses, I don't want you to pretend ignorance to me. You have sinned— repent! A thousand times you have sinned—a thousand times do penance. This is the course which I strenuously advise, and I would do away with all fears, for, I am aware of the sufferings of conscience, I know how very much despair means. The devil stands by whetting his sword, and his speech runs after this fashion: You have abused your whole youth, you have wasted your whole life, you used to patronize the theatre with your friends; you resorted to the circus with your associates and to dens of shame with harlots; then again you used to steal, you cultivated avarice, you have been a swearer and a blasphemer; fie! fie!—what hope of salvation is there for the like of you? You are lost! You are lost! Go on, therefore, and take all possible advantage of the pleasures the world has to offer you; let your heart go out to its joys.
"This is the language of the devil; this is what he advises, but the advice I would give you runs just in the opposite direction. If you have fallen you can rise again; you are lost, but you can be saved, you have been a fornicator, but you can be continent in the future; you have sinned, but you can be delivered; you have gone to the play, but you can retrace your steps; you have consorted with bad men, but, withdraw from them and keep good company; you are free to choose either course. Make some effort at least to begin your conversion, to have some mite of repentance. Let your eyes send forth tears, stir up your conscience, look into yourself, bring the Judgment Day before your eyes, consider the delights of Paradise, prepared for the holy ones. You have committed murder—repent! If you have sinned, confess your sins! You have fallen away, get on your feet again. You have been wounded, make use of the cure whilst you have life, whilst you have breath, aye, whilst you are lying on your very bed, aye, if I may say so, breathing your last breath, that ere you make your exit you may be set free from your chains. Repent, the shortness of time is no barrier to the mercy of God! What is it compared to the mercy of God? a dry chip driven before the wind. If God wills it so, let no man gainsay. Ah, beloved, I speak in this strain to you, not, indeed, to make you any the more neglectful, but, rather, to lead you on to a trust in the bright future. Never despair of yourselves; confide in the mercy of God. Despair rather of him who shall have despaired of himself, who does not wish to retrace his steps, who despises and condemns the Precepts of God and has not the faintest idea that he is ever going to die." (In Ps. L, hom. 2.)
