When, then, God sends us tribulations, let us say
with Job: "I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and
I have not received what I have deserved." (Job xxxiii.
27.) O Lord, my sins merit far greater chastisement
than that which thou hast inflicted on me. We should
even pray with St. Augustine, "Burn cut, spare not
in this life, that thou mayest spare for eternity." How
frightful is the chastisement of the sinner of whom the
Lord says: "Let us have pity on the wicked, but he
will not learn justice." (Is. xxvi. 10.) Let us abstain
from chastising the impious: as long as they remain in
this life they will continue to live in sin, and shall thus
be punished with eternal torments. On this passage St.
Bernard says : "Misericordiam hanc nolo, super omnem
iram miseratio ista." (Serin, xlii., in Cant.) Lord, I do
not wish for such mercy, which is a chastisement that
surpasses all chastisements.
-St. Alphonsus Liguori (Sermons for all the Sundays in the Year, Sermon II)
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