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Jerome says: "God is
wroth, not with us, but
with our sins;'' and St. John Chrysostom
adds, that if we remember our sins God will forget them. He desires that we
being humbled should
reform, and crave pardon of him. Because they are humbled I will not
destroy them. - 2 Par. 12:7.
But, in order to amend,
we must be led to it by fear of punishment, otherwise, we never should be
brought to change our lives. True it is, God protects him who places hope in his
mercy. He is the
protector of all who trust in Him. - Ps. 17:31. But he who hopes in the
mercy of the Lord is always
the man who fears his justice. They that fear the Lord have
hoped in the Lord: He is their protector and their helper. Ps. 13:11. The Lord
often speaks of
the rigor of his judgments, and of hell, and of the great number who go thither.
Be not afraid of
them who kill the body: ... fear ye Him who, after He hath killed, hath power to
cast into hell.
Luke 12:5. Broad I the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who
enter thereat.
Matt. 7:13. And why does the Lord so often speak thus? In order that
fear may keep us from vice,
and from the passions, and from occasions; and that thus we may reasonably hope
for salvation,
which is only for the innocent, or the penitent, who hope and fear.
Oh, what strength has
not the fear of hell to
rein us in from sin! To that end has God created hell. He has created us, and
redeemed us by his
death, that we might be happy with him; he has imposed upon us the obligation of
hoping for
eternal life, and on that account encourages us, by saying that all those who
hope in him shall
be saved. For none of them
that wait on Thee shall be confounded. Ps. 24:2. On the other hand, it
is his wish and command
that we should be in fear of eternal damnation. Some heretics hold, that all who
are not in sin
should consider themselves as assuredly just and predestined; but these have
with reason
been condemned by the
Council of Trent (Sess.
6 can. 14, 15), because
such a presumption is as perilous to salvation as fear is conducive to it.
And let Him be your
dread, and He shall be a sanctification unto
you. Is. 8:13. The holy fear of God makes
man holy. Wherefore David begged of God the grace of 'fear, in order that fear
might destroy in
him the inclinations of the flesh. Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear.
Ps. 118:120.
We should then fear on account of our sins, but this fear ought not to deject
us: it should
rather excite us to confidence in the divine
mercy, as was the case with the prophet himself. For Thy name's sake, O
Lord, Thou wilt pardon my
sin, for it is great. -Ps .24:11.
How is that? Pardon me because my sin is great? Yes, because the divine mercy is
most conspicuous
in the case of greatest misery; and he who has been the greatest sinner is he
who " glorifies most
the divine mercy, by hoping in God, who has promised to save all those who hope
in him. He will
save them, because they have hoped in him. Ps. 36:40. For this reason it
is, Ecclesiasticus says,
that the fear of the Lord bringeth not pain, but joy and gladness: The
fear of the Lord shall
delight the heart, and shall give joy and gladness. Thus this very fear
leads to the acquisition
of a firm hope in God, which makes the soul happy: He that feareth the
Lord shall tremble at
nothing, and shall not be afraid, for He is his hope. The soul of him that
feareth the Lord is
blessed. Ecclus. 34:17. Yes, blessed, because fear draws man away from
sin. The fear of the
Lord driveth out sin, Ecclus. 1:27, and at the same time infuses
into him a great desire of
observing the commandments: Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord : he
shall delight
exceedingly in His commandments. -Ps.111:1.
We must, then, persuade ourselves that chastisement is not what the nature of
God
inclines him to. God, because by his nature he
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