St. Emile roman
catholic  church

Mercy Is Free, But Never Cheap

"Mercy is always costly when it is permitted to be what it is and achieve its end, since the eradication of evil demands total conversion from evil…which is always costly to the sinner.

"And, as Jesus reveals fully on the cross, mercy is also always costly to the giver of mercy. "

Read more from Dr. Tom Neal's blog post at Word on Fire.

God of Wrath or God of Mercy?

"People reading the Diary of St. Faustina for the first time are sometimes surprised to find passages in which Jesus tells her about God's "wrath" and "anger," and not just about His mercy. ... If God is so merciful and loving, why does He speak to St. Faustina about His wrath and anger?"

Read more of Which is He: A God of Wrath or of Mercy? by Dr. Robert Stackpole at The Divine Mercy.

What the Pharisees Heard

"The story of the prodigal son captures the essence of the Gospel for the Holy Father [Pope John Paul II], so much so that he never seems to tire of drawing forth rich insight and encouragement from this timeless tale."

Read the rest of The Prodigal Son As Heard in Jesus' Day from Tim Gray at the Catholic Education Resource Centre.

What God Thinks of Sinners

"If one of the self-righteous Pharisees had possessed the power and authority of Christ, he would have destroyed all the 'sinners.' But Christ deploys all his power and authority to bring them back into communion with God."

Read more of What God Thinks of Sinners by Fr. John Bartunek, LC at The Catholic Exchange.

The Hound Of Heaven
by Francis Thompson

I fled Him down the nights and down the days
I fled Him down the arches of the years
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears
I hid from him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot precipitated
Adown titanic glooms of chasmèd fears
From those strong feet that followed ...

Read the rest of The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson at Bartleby.

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Download (with commentary) at Gutenberg.