July 23, 2017

Wis 12: 13. 16-19

For neither is there any god besides you, whose care is for all people,
to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly;
For your strength is the source of righteousness,
and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all.
For you show your strength when people doubt the completeness of your power,
and you rebuke any insolence among those who know it.
Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness,
and with great forbearance you govern us;
For you have power to act whenever you choose.
Through such works you have taught your people
that the righteous must be kind,
and you have filled your children with good hope,
because you give repentance for sins.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

God’s merciful power

We often project our notions of power onto God and then attempt to enlist God as we imagine him into our battles, eagerly expecting the divine power to be deployed to root out and destroy what we consider evil. But God is God, and his power will not be domesticated by our petty battles. Indeed, the divine power is immense and marked not by petty vindictiveness but rather by overwhelming magnanimity. God rules with forbearance and mercy, provisions for repentance and forgiveness.

—Fr. Martin Connell, SJ is Professor of Education at John Carroll University and Rector of the John Carroll University Jesuit community.

Prayer

Merciful Lord, it does not surprise me that you forget completely the sins of those who repent. I am not surprised that you remain faithful to those who hate and revile you. The mercy which pours forth from you fills the whole world. It was by your mercy that we were created, and by your mercy that you redeemed us by sending your Son.

—St. Catherine of Siena