Eternal Maxims - Tuesday
Maxims
of Eternity
or
Meditations
for Every Day in the Week.
Meditation for Tuesday
Mortal
Sin.
I.
Consider,
O my soul! that having been created to love God, you have rebelled
against him, and thereby been guilty of the basest ingratitude. You
have treated him like an enemy; you have despised his grace and
friendship. You were aware how much sin offends him, and still you
have committed it. Yes, you have turned your back on God; you have
insulted him; you have in a manner raised your hand to strike him;
you have saddened his Holy Spirit. The man who sins says to God, if
not in words, at least in effect: Begone from me: I will not serve
Thee, I will not acknowledge Thee for my God: the God whom I adore is
this pleasure, this interest, this revenge. Such has been the
language of your heart every time that you have preferred any
creature to God.
Read more . . .
St.
Mary Magdalene of Pazzi could not conceive how a Christian could
knowingly commit a mortal sin. O you who are reading these lines,
what are your sentiments? how many mortal sins have you committed? O
my God! pardon me, have mercy on me: I detest all my sins; I love
Thee, and grieve sincerely for the insults that I have offered to
Thee, who are deserving of infinite love.
II.
Consider
that God thus spoke to your heart at the moment you were offending
him: My son, I am your God, who created you and redeemed you with the
price of my blood. I forbid you, then, to commit that sin under pain
of incurring my eternal displeasure. But in yielding to the
temptation you have replied: Lord, I will not obey Thee; I am
resolved to gratify my passions; I value not Thy friendship. Thou
hast said, I will not serve.1
Ah! my God: and this I have done many, perhaps thousands of times.
How couldst Thou bear with my insults? Why did I not die rather than
live to offend Thee? But, O infinite goodness! I will do so no more;
henceforth I will love Thee with all my heart. Give me perseverance;
give me Thy holy love.
III.
Consider,
O my soul! that, when sins reach a certain number, they cause God to
abandon the sinner. The Lord patiently expecteth that when the day
of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of sins.2
If, therefore, you are again tempted to return to your sins, say no
more within yourself, I will commit this one, and will then repent.
For what if the Lord should instantly strike you dead? or what if he
should forsake you forever? What has been the fate of thousands who
have thus lost the grace of God? They flattered themselves with the
hope of pardon; but death surprised them, and hell enveloped them in
its flames. Tremble, then, lest your fate be the same. Those who
abuse the goodness of God in order to offend him are undeserving of
his mercy. After the multitude of crimes that he has pardoned you,
you have too much reason to fear that, if you relapse into mortal
sin, he will pardon you no more. Thank him, then, a thousand times
for having borne patiently with you until now, and form the
resolution rather to die than to offend him any more. Say frequently
to him: My God! I have already offended Thee enough: the remainder of
my life shall be spent in loving Thee and in bewailing my past
ingratitude. O my Jesus! I wish to love Thee; grant me the grace to
do so. O Blessed Virgin, my Mother! assist me by thy prayers. Amen.
1“Dixisti:
Non serviam.” — Jer. ii. 20.
2“Dominus
patienter exspectat, ut, cum judicii dies advenerit, in plenitudine
peccatorum puniat.” — 2 Mach. vi. 14.
