Fr. Schall on the Forgiveness of Sins

“And Those Whose Sins Ye Shall Retain. . .”

Mercy is a secondary issue. It is not needed unless something goes wrong in the world. Christ came for the unjust, not the just. (Luke 5:32) In a sinless world, no one needs mercy. Still, it is not a sinless world, however much we might deny, privately and publicly, that certain sins are not sins.

Before anything needing forgiveness existed, Aquinas held that the universe was created in mercy, not justice. God was not necessitated to create anything. Creation did not occur because God “owed” something to someone in justice. God in creating did understand that free creatures, if He created any of these wobbly types, might well need mercy in addition to justice. So he proceeded with His plan.

Mercy is not “opposed” to justice, as if it makes justice somehow disappear in God and man. It is not either mercy or justice, but both justice and mercy. Mercy comes into play only when justice is requited.