Trinity Sunday

Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk 
31st May 2015

Some are cast down at the thought of faults more or less serious, and not repented of. Others are dejected at the memory of faults already atoned for, or at the recurrence of always the same faults in their lives. Whatever the cause, this sadness works evil effects in body and soul. We know that Our Lord awaits only one tear of sincere contrition in order to receive the worst of sinners into the embrace of His mercy, though he might be guilty of crimes as horrible as that of Judas.

St Paul has said that all things work unto good for them that love God. Yes, all turns to their advantage, even their shortcomings or to their more serious lapses. God sometimes allows these faults in order to cure us of our vain presumption, and to teach us what we are and of what we are capable. David recognised that the adultery and homicide of which he had been guilty served to keep him in constant distrust of himself: "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy justifications". The humility that he afterwards learned disposed him to receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost, to become the head of the Church and preserved him from the dangers to be met with in so eminent a position.

St. Paul, in the success of his apostolate, preserved himself from pride and vanity by recalling that he had been a blasphemer and a persecutor of the Church of God. Then a humiliating temptation, from which God did not see fit to deliver him, acted as a balance to the sublimity of his revelations.

If God could thus use great sins to so wondrous an advantage, who can doubt that He will make our daily faults contribute to our sanctification?

God is the greater Master. Let us ever leave Him to act, knowing that He never can fail in His work. We must make up our minds to avoid anything that could in the slightest manner give Him offence. Let us cherish the humiliations that redounds to us from the failure (of our sins) and even ask God to use that fault to our humiliation and to His glory. He will then indeed do as we ask.

These are the sentiments that we must try to acquire when we recall our faults. Far from letting them trouble us, we must humble ourselves at the sight of them, and bless God because He is willing still to welcome us in spite of our failings. They will be for us a sure preservative against a false security, and the very effort we need to rise again and to maintain our constancy will be to our spiritual benefit. As in all else we must always keep up our courage, looking upwards towards Heaven with trust in God Whose goodness knows no limits. In this spirit we must address ourselves to our daily duty, which both earns us our reward and is at the same time the test of our faith, love and goodwill.