{"id":31320,"date":"2017-09-24T16:01:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T20:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=31320"},"modified":"2017-09-27T01:46:52","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T05:46:52","slug":"can-we-exhaust-gods-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/can-we-exhaust-gods-mercy\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Exhaust God’s Mercy?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
\n for September 24th, 2017
\n Sunday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n

Liturgical texts\u00a0here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

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I am on my way back from the “Flame of Love” conference in Philadelphia. It was beautiful.\u00a0<\/em>Around 500 people packed a hotel room that was filled with the Holy Spirit from the first minute. All of us are leaving with renewed hope and strength in the Lord. I have some long layovers in airports on my way back to Canada, and so am taking this time to reflect with you on today’s readings….<\/em><\/p>\n

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CAN\u00a0<\/b>we exhaust God’s mercy?<\/p>\n

It seems to me\u2014when we consider all that the Scriptures have to say, and Christ’s revelations of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina\u2014it is not so much that mercy runs out that\u00a0justice fills up<\/em>. Think of a rebellious teenager who continually breaks the rules of the house, increasingly bringing unrest, harm, and danger to the whole family, until the father… at last… has no choice but to ask the child to leave. It is not that his mercy has run out, but that justice demanded it for the common good of the family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is important to understand about our present times\u2014a period, now, where the rejection of Christ and the Gospel has brought mankind to a perilous brink. Nonetheless, the risk is that we would fall into a harmful pessimism, if not fatalism, that risks paralyzing our missionary impetus; and that we, the brothers and sisters,\u00a0rather than the Father, <\/em>begin to\u00a0<\/em>determine that the “rebellious child” should be cast out of the house. But that is simply not our business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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For my thoughts are not your thoughts,\u00a0nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. (Today’s first reading)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rather ,<\/p>\n

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The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (Today’s Psalm)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There has been much ado about last night’s configuration of the sky, where the constellations lined up according to Revelation 12:1. Many feel this might have been another “sign of the times.” [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. “Apocalypse Now? Another Great Sign Rises in the Heavens”, Peter Archbold, remnantnewspaper.com<\/a><\/span><\/span>