209th Meditation
“My son, even sin can become a stepping stone that brings us closer to God, that raises us up, that leads us even more surely to Him, provided that sin is followed by the deep grief of having committed it, when we sincerely resolve not to repeat it, when we feel how badly we have acted against God’s mercy, when it is capable of tearing at the hardest fibres of our heart, causing tears of repentance and love to flow from them” (St. Pio of Pietrelcina).
Our Father’s masterpieces cannot be surpassed. In His goodness, He is able to transform even sin, which is the greatest and most real catastrophe in our existence, if only man repents and converts.
By meditating on this and discovering there the infinite patience and inexhaustible love of God, our heart can soar even higher towards Him. Our Father never turns away from us, and His love seeks every way to bring the sinner to conversion. The sinner must not despair in the face of his sin, however disgusting and filthy it may be. God’s love is too great to leave the sinner simply at the mercy of himself, of the consequences of his sin and, ultimately, of the devil. That is what His Fatherly Heart does not want. God cannot turn against Himself (cf. 2 Tim 2:13), for He created man out of love. Thus, when a person is converted and repents sincerely, he can come even closer to God, because his heart melts in sincere tears of contrition.
Another master of the spiritual life, John Tauler, gives us a very graphic and strong comparison of how to deal with our sins and weaknesses with trust in God:
“The horse expels his dung in the stable and, although it is disgusting and stinking, the same horse then carries it with great efforts to the field, and then the good wheat grows and the noble and sweet wine, which would never grow if the dung were not there. So carry with effort and diligence your dung – that is, those weaknesses and defects which you cannot get rid of or overcome – into the field of God’s loving Will, in an attitude of serenity towards yourself. No doubt delicious and tasty fruits will grow in this humble serenity” (John Tauler).
So what else can happen to us? “Can anything cut us off from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:35)