The Wrath of God

"Compassion" and "Mercy"

Pope Francis' mentions the Sacred Heart devotion but in connection with his own language of "compassion" and "mercy," which may be compatible with sentimentalism but may not be compatible with law or the good. Charity separated from truth.







CNA: ‘The heart of the Church’s mission is prayer,’ Pope Francis says

Catholic Herald: The time is ripe for a revival in devotion to the Sacred Heart by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith

Can the devotion to the Sacred Heart be separated from Latin soteriology and its concepts of merit, atonement, expiation, and reparation that are logical consequences of it? (It has also been linked to the modern Latin devotion to Christ the King, cf. the reference by Pius XI to Quas Primas in Miserentissimus Redemptor.)

Consecration to the Sacred Heart. Pope Leo XIII - 1899 - Vatican.VA
Miserentissimus Redemptor (May 8, 1928) | PIUS XI
CARITATE CHRISTI COMPULSI Pope Pius XI 3 May 1932 Sacred Heart - EWTN - Vatican.VA
Haurietis Aquas (May 15, 1956) | PIUS XII

The Latin Distinction Between Divine Mercy and Divine Justice

Another instance where it is used.

Church Life Journal: Does the Mass Say Christmas Is About Justice? by John O’Callaghan

And yet, Christ is called the "Sun of Justice" or better, the "Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4:2). And that is the solution to the Latin difficulty...

Do the mediocre recognize their limitations?

Punishment and Reward

How to pray the “Cursing Psalms” against our enemies

Rather than talking about "Divine Justice" (as an analogue to human retributive justice) as Pius Parsch does in his introduction to the breviary, wouldn't it be better to talk about punishments/chastisements/etc. in relation to Divine Mercy or Righteousness?

Can God will an evil (or punishment) to a sinner for its own sake, without willing the further good of conversion or penitence, or just as a means to maintaining good order or discipline or to prevent them from doing greater evil, for the sake of others only? Or does sin suffice as its own punishment?

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.

Making Reparation

Fr. Z: Intense new image of the Sacred Heart and your Act of Reparation (ACTION ITEM!)

ACTION ITEM!
On that note, because of the awful confusion that we have experience over the last week, I ask you all earnestly to pray the classic Act of Reparation that the great Pius XI released in 1928 in Miserentissimus Redemptor.

The prayer here.

Making reparation and expiation for the [supposed] sins of others... does such a mindset distort agape?

English Translation of the Benedict XVI Interview

Italian translation was mentioned here; English translation at CWR blog.

He repeats his (and the conventional) understanding of Anselm's theory of atonement here.

Pope Francis on Divine Justice

From Misericordiae Vultus:

20. It would not be out of place at this point to recall the relationship between justice and mercy. These are not two contradictory realities, but two dimensions of a single reality that unfolds progressively until it culminates in the fullness of love. Justice is a fundamental concept for civil society, which is meant to be governed by the rule of law. Justice is also understood as that which is rightly due to each individual. In the Bible, there are many references to divine justice and to God as “judge”. In these passages, justice is understood as the full observance of the Law and the behaviour of every good Israelite in conformity with God’s commandments. Such a vision, however, has not infrequently led to legalism by distorting the original meaning of justice and obscuring its profound value. To overcome this legalistic perspective, we need to recall that in Sacred Scripture, justice is conceived essentially as the faithful abandonment of oneself to God’s will.

The standard textbook Latin view? As for Pope Francis's opposition between faith and the observance of the law, is he getting the right opposition? Is he characterizing the problem with the Pharisees correctly? Is this rooted in an erroneous understanding of Divine Justice, which fails to see that it is actually identical, or an aspect of Divine Mercy, as is indicated in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and in the use of dikaiosune?