It is not the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.
God wants everyone to be saved, wants us all to find salvation and be happy in this life and in eternal life especially.
And, you know, there's different schools of approach and preaching today as in every day,
but in particular today where we are living, there are those who want to emphasize
the justice of God, the severity of God that he sometimes has to exercise.
And this comes out especially when we talk about hell, when talking about hell,
and this is something that's in the news today, in the Catholic news,
of talking about hell.
There's a book out by Ralph Martin that said,
How many are there to be saved?
And the conclusion there is that,
the church fathers have said that most are not saved
because most live for themselves and not for God.
But that can be changed, of course, because God wants everyone to be saved
and it's, in a certain sense, it's not difficult to be saved because of God's mercy.
His mercy is infinite.
Wide is the ocean, deep is the ocean.
All we have to do is turn to his mercy and repent and reform.
Our life, that's all we have to do.
And yet, it is a narrow way to heaven.
It is a difficult way because we have to deny ourselves
and we have so many dangers around us,
weak dangers inside of us and dangers outside,
Satan and the world.
So there's the balance in this whole spiritual life.
There is the justice of God and his mercy,
and what is the climate that we live in today?
We live in post-Vatican II.
And Vatican II really was a council of pastoral nature.
And even Pope John XXIII, in his opening speech, he said,
The Holy Spirit wants to speak of mercy today,
wants to speak of God's love and goodness.
And that's the way he wants to.
And that's the way he wants to approach the sinners of the world today.
In past times, he did speak in severity.
In past councils, he did speak in anathema.
But not with this council and not with this time, this age.
This age is emphasizing God's mercy and love and goodness.
And that is the approach, the general approach we should show towards sinners.
And even in our own heart, in our own mentality, spiritual mentality,
this is the way to approach in the general sense.
Of course, that can be abused.
And those who are out saying that, yeah, there is a hell,
but there's nobody in it, or very few at all go there,
that's a heresy, that is an abuse.
And that causes people to go to,
and that causes people to go to, and that causes people to go to,
to another extreme and say, you know, yeah, there is a hell,
and most people are going there, and that's the way it is.
And that's the approach.
And people say, you know, you're too severe, and you don't care,
and you're judgmental, and perhaps they are.
But God doesn't want us to be judgmental.
He wants us to be charitable, to hope for the salvation of others,
and let that hope make us evangelize and preach
and go out and preach.
And let Him go out and seek the good and give hope to others.
Hope is what is the emphasis today.
We give hope to others,
and that hope should bring them to conversion and repentance.
And if it doesn't, then maybe a little dose of justice is called for.
But hope, goodness, mercy, the love of God is the approach for today.
And that should bring about conversion.
conversion and we pray for that we and that's the way we should approach sinners today not with
severity and why why is that i don't know maybe because there are fewer catholics today in the
world there's more different religions people are more astray there's more atheists more confusion
in the world and god looks upon the state of souls with with pity compassion mercy and wants us to
as well whatever it is we need to have that non-judgmental approach and yet same time
a strong effort to bring about conversions and to emphasize to others that you have to
strive for your salvation you have to seek
conversion in
in
in
and at the same time trust in god's love and mercy and so let us preach that today let us
live god's love and mercy and hope and let that
not make us fear god but make us love god more
and strive harder for our own personal sanctification and that of others
as christians and greeks
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