Thought of the Day February 22, 2019 It is by mercy we are saved
By Sam Jacobs 10:09 AM Thought of the Day
From natural birth in blood to spiritual rebirth in
the waters of baptism to our entrance into eternal glory is a continual
experience of God's tender, compassionate mercy. All is mercy. God is not obliged to love us.
He chooses to do so. While we are deserving his judgment because all have
sinned and have fallen short of glory, God's mercy brings us through judgment
to glory.
Let me tell you a story. A man dies and goes to
heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says,
"Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell
me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points
for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get
in." "Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman
for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." "That's
wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life
and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a
point." "One point? Golly. How
about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for
homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that's good for two more
points," he says. "TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this
rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!" "Come on
in!
We will only know in eternal glory the blessings of
mercy we have received from God in our life time. In a flash back we will see
our whole life before us: our shortcomings deserving of judgment and God's
mercy freely given. He does this so that we will never believe that it is by
our actions that we merited eternal salvation. Our cry, Lord, have mercy, can
never be empty words but must be a realization of our true condition as human
beings. We are in need of God's mercy. Maybe it has best been said by St. John
Chrysostom: "Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our
credit, our confidence in being heard by God must be based on God's mercy and
love for us. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that
we shall be saved." (To be continued)
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