The Presumption of Mercy

The Council Of Trent against the Protestant revolutionaries proclaims as a matter of dogmatic faith (De fide)

"For, just as no pious person should doubt the mercy of God,

the merits of Christ, and the virtue and efficacy of the Sacraments,

so every one, when he considers himself and his own weakness and indisposition, may entertain fear and apprehension as to his own

grace, since NO ONE can know with the certainity of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God." (D 802)

Because of the wound of Original Sin we are incredibly weak and frail when it comes to living out the Commandments of God. Sadly, given the right circumstances and conditions, we are all capable of the most terrible sins and evil. It is, therefore, extremely important to realize that if we are not diligent and constantly on our guard we can very easily fall into mortal sin, which kills the soul and extinguishes the virtue of charity, which is necessary for salvation. It is entirely possible to have actually committed a mortal sin and through our own self-deception and rationalization refused to accept it as such and therefore, never asking for forgiveness in the sacrament of Confession or reconciling with those we may have injured by our selfishness. The Church has always recognized that no one can say for certain they are in the state of Sanctifying Grace. Nor can anyone say that they are somehow predestined for eternal life without a specific and supernatural revelation. We all must be very, very careful. Pride, which lurks in all of us, may wish to proclaim our souls as grace filled; yet because we are so filled with imperfections, vices and corrupt intentions we may possibly not have made a truly sincere confession of our sins with the firmest resolution for amendment. How many of us can honestly say that we have gone to confession renouncing with "all our heart" a habitual sin that has plagued us and that we continue to take pleasure in if not in action at least in thought. Beware, therefore, of pride. We must humbly offer ourselves constantly to Christ and "HOPE" in His mercy which is infinite, knowing that His justice is also infinite. We must sincerely strive to obey the will of Christ, to repent of our transgressions, to reconcile ourselves with those whom we have injured (spiritually, emotionally or physically) and to confess our sins with the firm resolve never to commit them again. Then, never despairing of God's mercy we must at the same time never commit the opposite sin against the Holy Spirit, which is to presume in His mercy as if He would never damn us. And here's the clincher. We may say all the right words and think all the right thoughts but emotionally still commit the sin of presumption: "feeling" that God could never do that to us. We are nothing. And after we have done everything the Lord has commanded us to do we should say; "We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what it was our duty to do (and poorly at that)." Luke 17:10 =