Interceding for sinners
Scripture
- Note well: Catholics accept this book as part of the Bible; Protestants took it out of their version of the Bible.
- On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them with their kinsmen in their ancestral tombs. But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain. They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.
- Lord's Prayer
- Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
13 I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.
14 And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and He will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.
Things to consider
God made Job's intercession a condition of forgiving the three friends.
Power to make reparation for the sins of souls in Purgatory.
Vicarious satisfaction.
Priesthood of the faithful.
Chaplet of Divine Mercy: "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."
Daily life lived in small things.
Footwashing!
Seventy times seventy" forgiveness is not a task that we can accomplish without help; the Father lavishes us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to make it possible for us to forgive those who hurt us seventy-times seven times.
References