Ave Maria Meditations
Do you want to give yourself an idea of the goodness of God and the hardness of creatures? Consider how God acts when He is offended and how men act. Oh, how slight is human mercy, even nonexistent! Man pretends to pardon, but in reality he does nothing but treat his offender harshly while always remembering the offense. He forgets when he no longer feels the impact and the anger; he forgives with difficulty. Yet the offender is it being like him, perhaps even better than him.
Look how inflexible man is when he punishes: the guilty person repents and begs but the law strikes him, obliterates him, deprives him of freedom and is not placated until he has paid in full.
The offense which God receives is incommeasurable, yet God calls the sinner to His heart, He entices him with the most delicate expressions, He searches for him like a lost treasure, like a little lamb from His own fold, like a beloved son. If God wants him to confess his sin, it is for the benefit of the sinner, so that, by humiliating himself, he may feel free of his weight and deserve forgiveness and then look on this as a blessed right and not a humiliating concession.
God does not despise the sinner; He does not look on him with severity nor approve him, but embraces him, enriches him with grace…It is true that adversities befall sinners, but it is not God who sends the punishment and death of the wicked, it is rather the wicked who brings the adversities and disasters upon himself. And even these serve God’s purpose to call the sinner to Himself when he doesn’t listen to the voice of love.
O, how great is God’s mercy! And are you still unsure about Him? Do you not know that He considers Himself greatly offended by lack of trust precisely because He is infinite goodness? Throw yourself into His arms then and you will always find the most tender and loving of fathers.
The Servant of God, Don Dolindo Ruotolo
