CONFIDENCE IN GOD

II. CONFIDENCE IN GOD.

1. On Account of God's Goodness, Love, and Mercy.

How marvelous are the evidences of God's goodness, love, and mercy? When He had no need of his services, God made man to His own image and likeness, destined him for the Beatific Vision, and endowed him with superabundant means of working out his exalted destiny. When sin closed heaven to man and made him a slave of Satan, God was so lavish in His mercy that He did not hesitate to sacrifice His only begotten Son for man's redemption. And He solemnly assures us that He loves every one of us with an everlasting love “and watches over us with a greater solicitude '' than the fondest mother bestows upon her infant child.

2. On Account of God's Promises

So urgent are God's invitations to place our trust in Him, and so solemn His promises to help us, that no one can reasonably refuse Him his confidence. A few quotations will suffice. ''Behold” He says, “I stand at the gate and knock'' (Apoc. iii. 20). “Come to Me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (Matt xi. 28). "Turn to Me, says the Lord of hosts; and I will turn to you " (Zach. i. 3). “As I live, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezech. xxxiii. 11). "I am weary of entreating thee " (Jer. xv. 6). “If the wicked do penance and keep My commandments, I will not remember his iniquities" (Ezech. xviii. 21).

3. On Account of the Merits of Jesus Christ

Jesus is both God and man. As God His actions have infinite value; in His human nature He paid the price of our redemption. One prayer, one tear, one drop of His blood would have made adequate atonement for the sins of the world. But this did not satisfy the burning love of Jesus. To manifest His love, and to constrain us to love Him in return. He shed the last drop of His precious blood in our behalf. Hence St. John Chrysostom calls his crucified Master " the hope of Christians, the staff of the lame, the comfort of the poor, the destruction of the proud, the victory over the devil, the guide of youth, the rudder of sailors, the refuge of those who are in danger, the counselor of the just, the rest of the afflicted, the physician of the sick, and the glory of martyrs.”

4. On Account of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin.

Mary loves all mankind with a mother's love. She gave us the Saviour, and so has a double interest in every one of us. When she offered the divine Infant in the temple she consented to the decree of the heavenly Father condemning Him to die that we might live. This sacrifice Mary consummated beneath the cross of her dying Son, where she became the Mother of Sorrows. If Mary made this sacrifice to give us spiritual life, she certainly will do all in her power to foster it. And her influence is all-powerful with that God of goodness who made her a worthy mother for His divine Son.

5. On Account of the Mission of the Catholic Church

Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church to bring peace on earth to all of good will. Guided by the Holy Ghost she brings peace to honest minds by teaching them the truths of religion with divine certainty. She brings peace to the human heart by reconciling the repentant sinner with God, and by making the just taste how good God is to those who love and serve Him. And she assures her children of abiding peace by offering them the means of perseverance amid the trials of life, and the divine assurance of endless bliss.

6. On Account of the Power of Prayer.

Prayer is the key to the infinite treasures of God's mercy and the boundless merits of Jesus Christ Behold the testimony of Sacred Scripture; "Call upon Me, and I will deliver thee'' (Jer. xxxiii. 3). "Ask and it shall be given you: seek and you shall find: knock and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. vii. 7). "You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you" (John xv. 7). "If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do" (John xiv. 14). "Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you" (John xvi. 23).

7. On Account of the Intercession of the Angels and Saints

“The continual prayer of a just man availeth much '' (James v. 16). If the prayer of Abra- ham, of Moses, and of other holy men and women had great influence with God while they were on earth, how much more influence must the angels and saints have before the throne of God? God Himself has appointed His angels our guardians, and His Church has placed us under the special protection of the saints. Hence, according to the teaching of St. Thomas, it is evidently the plan of God, that we be brought to Him through the influence of those who surround His throne, and that the more perfect members of Christ's mystical body aid the imperfect members to increase in charity and thus become more and more godlike.