Catholicism

What is God's mercy? (from «The Treasures of Cornelius ALapide»)
As a property of light it is to illuminate, thus the property of God is to have mercy on his creatures, said San Nilo (Vit. Father.). Mercy is a natural and divine virtue; the Supreme Good is supremely merciful and beneficial. Therefore the Psalmist places mercy above all the works of God: – His compassions are above all his works (Psalm. 144,9). Saint Peter urges us to bless God the Father, due to the great mercy by which impulse has regenerated us to living hope: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his magnanimous mercy, regenerated us into a living hope! (I Petr. I,3). Finally the Church is turning to praying to God in the liturgy: «O Lord God, for whom it is entirely proper to always have pity and forgive, receive our request favorably" – A God whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, accept our entreaty.
Great and boundless is the mercy of God: 1° For its efficient cause, because it comes from God and his immense love for us; 2° For the object it presents to us. God has given us his Only Begotten Son, to show us how much abundance he spreads, through him, his mercies upon us; 3° For the subject to which it applies. We are nothing but earth worms, loaded with sins and miseries. He called us to himself and enabled us to receive his grace and glory. In this sense says the Psalmist, that "the abyss calls upon the abyss" – The abyss calls out to the abyss (Psalm. XL1, 7). The abyss of human miseries invokes the abyss of divine mercies; 4° For the multitude of gifts he has given us. In fact, who could enumerate the graces and favors with which God has filled us and continually showers us? This was what Saint Augustine had to say: 0 Gentleman, I have from your mercy all that I am; in fact what did I do, that I deserved to live for? What have I done, to deserve to be able to invoke you? No one can compare to you in mercy; from you, oh my God, my mercy, I received being, from you I received being good (Conc. 11, in Psalm. LVIII); 5° Respect to places and times. In fact it extends to all men of all times and places, according to those words of the prophet: «The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord» – The earth is full of God's mercy (Psalm. XXXII,5). For the saints this mercy lasts forever; 6° For the purpose it aims at, which is to lead us to the kingdom of eternal glory. Davide, rapt in ecstasy at the consideration of divine mercy, dice: «You have, oh Lord, your mercy is multiplied immensely" – You have multiplied your mercy (Psalm. XXXV,7).
Read More

32. To live according to God, what should we do? To live according to God we must believe the truths revealed by Him and observe his commandments with the help of his grace, which is obtained through the sacraments and prayer.
61. What are the commandments of God? The commandments of God or Decalogue are the moral laws that God in the Old Testament gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Jesus Christ perfected in the New.
62. Whoever transgresses the commandments of God sins gravely? Whoever deliberately transgresses even a single commandment of God in a serious matter, sins gravely against God e, therefore, deserves hell.
63. Which the first commandment orders us: “I am the Lord your God: you will have no other God besides me”? The first commandment: “I am the Lord your God: you will have no other God besides me”, he commands us to be religious, that is, to believe in God, to love him, worship and serve him.
64. Which the first commandment forbids us? The first commandment forbids impiety, superstition, irreligiosity, heresy and culpable ignorance of the truths of faith.
65. Which the second commandment forbids us: “do not take the Name of God in vain”? The second commandment: “do not take the Name of God in vain”, he forbids us to name him without respect, to blaspheme, to make false or illicit oaths.
66. Which the second commandment orders us to do? The Second Commandment commands us to always have reverence for the name of God, and to fulfill sworn vows and promises.
67. Which the third commandment orders us: “remember to keep the holidays holy”? The third commandment: “remember to keep the holidays holy”, He commands us to honor God on feast days, with acts of external worship, of which for Christians the essential is the Holy Mass.
68. Which the third commandment forbids us? The third commandment prohibits us on feast days from servile works and from any work that prevents us from worshiping God.
69. Which works are called servile? Proper manual labor is called servile, of artisans and workers.
70. Which the fourth commandment orders us to do: “honor your father and mother”? The fourth commandment: “honor your father and mother”, he commands us to love, respect and obey parents and our superiors in authority.
71. Which the fourth commandment forbids us? The fourth commandment prohibits us from offending parents and superiors in authority and from disobeying them. Read More

Short homily. He got up, it's not here" (Saint Mark, XVI). After the days of mourning, here is the day of joy and rejoicing. Today, words of jubilation resonate in the Church, songs of triumph echo, which indicate the excess of his joy after the tears and after the pain. "These are the days which the Lord hath made" (Psalm., 117). Men call those days in which they had victories "their day"., or performed beautiful deeds and glorious deeds. With greater reason this great day, we can proclaim it the day of the divine Savior. If in the past days we have seen the Man-God defeated by the efforts of His enemies, today we will admire it, we will represent him as a victorious man who triumphs: 1.° Of death, under which he had to succumb, and which gives us the certain certainty that we will rise again one day like Him. 2.° Of infidelity, in which His Apostles and all men would remain eternally without His resurrection. 3.° Of the devil, then undisputed master of the world. 4.° Of sin, which was the cause of Jesus' death, even though he was innocent, as it was the cause of the death of all men. Nothing is more valid to stop our unrest, of Fedeli, than the thought of Jesus' resurrection and ours. These are the four most notable victories that Our Lord Jesus Christ reports on this great day. These are the reasons that justify the Church's great joy even now. Now in the resurrection of Jesus we see both a miracle and an example: a miracle for our faith, an example for our life. And the example that Jesus victorious over death gives us, of infidelity, of sin is to imitate Him too in achieving our greatest victory. What is this great victory? The Holy Spirit will teach us «that the patient man is to be preferred to the strong one; and whoever rules his heart, he is worth much more than those who conquer cities" (Prov., XVI, 32). Who is truly powerful? Who brings beautiful and useful victories? He who resists the devil, who wins the world, that tames the passions, who subjugates himself. This is the answer that Jesus Christ gives us today with His example, and which resounds from His infallible word. (…) The Holy Fathers agree: «We walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, says Saint Augustine, and if we know how to overcome our passions and our vices, if we force them to be subject to us, we make a ladder to climb high" (Discourse on the Ascension.). And Saint Bernard: «A very meritorious kind of martyrdom is to mortify and conquer, with the spirit, the works of the flesh; the martyrdom of iron and fire seems more terrible, but that is more painful for its duration" (Serm. 4.° of Ascension). Cheer up, so, or athletes of Jesus Christ; let us fight the good fight like valiants; fight against evil, to sin, death of the soul; fight against the devil; fight the world. For faith, for immortality, for eternal life!
[From the Preacher's Handbook, Houdry – Damn, Vol. IV, part I, pag. 552 and sec., Imprimatur 1934].

INDEX
– Press release number 157. Urgency of change of mind;
– (With best wishes for Easter);
– Oration to Mary Queen of Martyrs;
– Papa Leone XII, Who peace, Homily for Easter Sunday, 1826;
– Dictionary of dogmatic theology. The Resurrection of Christ.