There is so much talk about God’s mercy these days and yet many people have the wrong idea about it. To put it simply, the purpose of God’s mercy is to call the sinner to repentance, that is, to have the sinner turn away from his sins, beg God’s forgiveness, and amend his life. If the sinner refuses to repent, then he abuses God’s mercy and can consequently expect God’s punishment upon him. Without repentance, God cannot forgive the sinner. If the sinner persists in his sin and dies in that state (i.e., with the guilt of mortal sin), he will be condemned to hell forever.
Let us read and meditate on the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor the Church and moral theologian par excellence, on this matter. This meditation was taken from his book called “The Way of Salvation and of Perfection”.
