Our Father's Love:

God's Great / Inexhaustible Mercy

Also See: God (Topic Page)

"Our sins are nothing but a grain of sand alongside the great mountain of the mercy of God." (St. John Vianney)

"...the knowledge that You have put no limit to the number of times that we should forgive makes us hope that You will treat us in the same manner; and since it is so we believe in Your love for us." (St. Louise de Marillac)

"Assuredly nothing can so humble us before the compassion of God as the abundance of his mercies; nothing so humble us before his justice as the abundance of our misdeeds." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"For when the Lord forgave all sins, He made an exception of none." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"He loves sinners and is full of compassion... He never refuses forgiveness. He will pardon an unlimited number of times and will continue to love you despite any sin you commit. 'Does not a father love a sick child with special affection and greater care and solicitude?'... The mercy of God is inexhaustible!"

"God is such an inexhaustible wellspring of boundless mercy and natural goodness that never was there a devoted mother who as willingly stretched out her hand to her own child that she had carried under her heart, seeing it in a raging fire, as God does to the penitent, even if it were possible that he had the sins of all men himself and committed them a thousand times every day." (Bl. Henry Suso)

Also See: God's Love | Mercy (Topical Scripture)

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God's Mercy

Also See: God (Topic Page)

"Though we are all sinners and rebels, He sought for us our reconciliation with Him." (Aphraates the Persion Sage, circa 336-345 A.D.)

"Neither is there any other cause of the Incarnation except this alone: He saw us bowed down to the ground, perishing, tyrannized by death; and He had mercy." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"And thus precisely does it happen. At the very moment when we imagine ourselves to be utterly lost and altogether bereft of His protection, then it is that God in His infinite goodness seeks us out in a special way and takes care of us. Even in His anger He stays the sword of His justice, and ceases not to pour out the inexhaustible treasures of His mercy." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"The manifold mercy of God came to the assistance of fallen men in such a way that the hope of eternal life might be recovered not only by the grace of baptism, but also by the remedy of penance, that those who have violated the gifts of regeneration, condemning themselves by their own judgment, might attain to the remission of their sins; the help of divine goodness having been so ordered that the indulgence of God cannot be obtained except by the supplications of the priests. For 'the Mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus [1 Tim. 2:5]' has entrusted this power to the leaders of the Church, that they might both grant the action of penance to those confessing, and admit the same [persons] cleansed by salutary satisfaction to the communion of the sacraments through the gate of reconciliation." (Pope St. Leo The Great, Doctor of the Church, 459 A.D.)

"O how merciful a Father thou art, to least orphans, how easy a judge to repentant sinners, and how faithful a friend to sincere lovers! It is undoubtedly true, that thou never leavest alone that love thee, and thou lovest such as rest their love in thee. They shall find thee liberal above desert, and bountiful beyond hope: a measurer of thy gifts, not by their merits, but thy own mercy." (St. Robert Southwell)

"For we always give more willingly, where we give without return, seeing it is for our own honor that we give. Therefore God in giving reward to all the saints shows himself just; in giving to us, merciful; as the Apostle speaks, That the Gentiles might glorify for his mercy; and thence it is said, Beginning from the last even to the first. Or surely that God may show His inestimable mercy, He first rewards the last and more unworthy, and afterwards the first; for of His great mercy He regarded not order of merit" (Pseudo-Chrys, as quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)

"Many and great, most beloved brethren, are the divine blessings by which the abundant and copious clemency of God the Father and of Christ has both worked and is always working for our salvation. The Father sent the Son to preserve us and to give us life, so that He might be able to restore us; and indeed, the Son wished to be sent and to become the Son of Man, so that He might make us the sons of God. He humbled Himself in order to raise up a people who before were cast down. He was wounded in order to cure our wounds. He served as a slave in order to draw away liberty to those who were in bondage. He underwent death in order to hold forth immortality to mortals. These are many and great gifts of divine mercy." (St. Cyprian of Carthage, 253 A.D.)

"See the mercy of God, that He thinks rather of man's benefit than of His own honor; He loves concord in the faithful more than offerings at His altar; for so long as there are dissensions among the faithful, their gift is not looked upon, their prayer is not heard. For no one can be a true friend at the same time to two who are enemies to each other. In like manner, we do not keep our fealty to God, if we do not love His friends and hate His enemies. But such as was the offense, such should also be the reconciliation. If you have offended in thought, be reconciled in thought; if in words, be reconciled in words; if in deeds, in deeds be reconciled. For so it is in every sin, in whatsoever kind it was committed, in that kind is the penance done." (Pseudo-Chrys, as quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Sacraments Section | God's Love | Mercy (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

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Return of a Sinner

Also See: Sin (Topic Page)

"I'm certain of this - that if my conscience were burdened with all the sins it's possible to commit, I would still go and throw myself into our Lord's arms, my heart all broken up with contrition; I know what tenderness He has for any prodigal son of His who comes back to Him." (St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church)

"If someone, at the Devil's prompting, had committed every sin against God and then, with true contrition and the intention of amendment, truly repented these sins and humbly, with burning love, asked God for mercy, there is no doubt that the kind and merciful God Himself would immediately be as ready to receive that person back into His grace with great joy and happiness as would be a loving father who saw returning to him his only, dearly beloved son, now freed from a great scandal and a most shameful death." (St. Bridget of Sweden)

"What does ignorance of God beget us? Despair! A man who ponders all the evil he has done becomes anxious about himself. If he does not know how good and forgiving the Lord is, how willing to forgive and welcome him back, he falls into despair and becomes impenitent. He does not realize that Omnipotent Goodness could manage all his affairs, not wanting anyone to perish but that the sinner could be converted and live." (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church)

"In Christ there are two proofs of the gentleness of his nature. He patiently awaits the return of the sinner and he gently receives the penitent. This twofold mercy abounds in the heart of the Lord Jesus - his long-suffering in waiting for the sinner and his readiness in granting pardon." (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church)

"Oh! With what tenderness does God embrace a sinner that returns to him!" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"God cannot turn away his face from those who cast themselves at his feet with a humble and contrite heart." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"In God's tribunal, those who return are always received, because God is a searcher of hearts, and knows those who return in sincerity." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Therefore, if you wish God to give you a new heart, you must first of all amend your deeds, and then lament your faults and accuse yourself of your sins. Do not extenuate your defects, but judge yourself justly; let not your self-love blind you, but when conscience accuses you of wrong, do not forget it, but keep it before your eyes and manifest it to Jesus Christ, your savior and physician. Weep for it before Him, and he will comfort you without fail. No force can prevail with a Father like the tears of his child, nor is there anything which so moves God to grant us, not justice, but mercy, as our sorrow and self-accusation. Call upon the Almighty, for He will not be deaf to your cries; show Him your wounded soul, for you have not to deal with one who is blind; speak to Him of all your miseries, for He is merciful and will heal them. Go to confession and Holy Communion, and when you are united to your Savior, your soul will melt with devotion and you will say: How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee (Ps. 30:20)." (St. John of Avila)

Also See: Sacraments Section | God's Love | Scripture / Parables Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

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