Verba Christi ad sponsam de sue iusticie immutabilitate et eternitate et qualiter assumpta humanitate talis iusticia in caritate per ipsum fuerit illuminata et quomodo pie suam misericordiam exercet in dampnatis et dulciter ad misericordiam monet milites prelibatos.
The Unchanging Justice of the King
Christ asserts His eternal sovereignty and explains how His justice, though seemingly hidden or softened, remains constant through the Incarnation.
“I am the true King, and no one is worthy to be called king except me, because all honor and power come from me.” I am the one who judged the first angel, who fell because of pride, greed, and envy.✦ I am the one who judged Adam and Cain, and the entire world, by sending the flood because of humanity's sins. I am the same One who allowed the people of Israel to go into captivity, and who brought them out again with miraculous signs and wonders. All justice is in me; it was and is without beginning or end, and it is never diminished in me, but remains in me always true and unchanging. Even though my justice might seem a little milder right now, and God may appear more patient in judging, this isn't a change in my justice—which never changes—but a greater expression of my love.1 I judge the world today with the same justice and truth as I did back then, when I allowed my people to serve the Egyptians and when I afflicted them in the desert. But before my incarnation, the love I held within my justice was hidden, like a light obscured or shadowed by a cloud. Once humanity was assumed, even though the law that had been given changed, justice itself did not; rather, it appeared more clearly and was more abundantly illuminated in charity through the Son of God, and this in three ways. First, because the law was softened—a law that had been harsh because of the disobedient and hardened, and difficult because of the need to tame the proud. Second, because the Son of God suffered and died. Third, because judgment seems to be delayed longer now than before out of mercy, and it seems to be milder now toward those who sin. Justice certainly seems very rigid and strict in our first parents, in the floodwaters, and in the death of those struck down in the wilderness; yet that same justice is with me now, and has been eternally.2 But now mercy and love appear more clearly, which back then were reasonably hidden within justice and were being shown mercifully, though more secretly; for I have never acted, nor do I act, with justice apart from mercy, nor with mercy apart from justice.
The Judge and the Brother
Using the analogy of a judge and his brother, Christ explains the relationship between divine justice and mercy, even toward the damned.
You might ask, "If I show mercy in all justice, how am I merciful to those who are damned?" I'll answer you with an example: imagine a judge sitting in court, and his brother comes before him to be judged. The judge says to him: “You are my brother, and I am your judge; and although I love you deeply, I cannot—nor would it be right for me to—act against justice.” You see all justice in your own conscience according to your merits. Therefore, you must be judged accordingly. For if it were possible to act against justice, I would gladly bear the judgment for you. I am like that judge. Humanity is my brother through our shared human nature. When someone comes to my judgment, their conscience speaks of their guilt, and they understand the standard by which they must be judged. But because I am just, I answer the soul with a comparison, saying to it: 'You see all justice within your own conscience.' Tell me, then, what you deserve!' Then the soul answers me: 'My conscience tells me my judgment, and it is a punishment deserved for my merits, because I have not obeyed you.' I answer her: 'I, your Judge, have taken on every penalty for you, and I have shown you your danger and the way to go, so that you wouldn't fall into punishment.' It was a matter of justice that you could not enter heaven before making satisfaction for your sin. I bore this for you, because you were personally unable to endure it. I showed you through the prophets what was going to happen to me, and I didn't overlook even the smallest detail that they foretold. I have shown you all the love I could, so that you might turn back to me. But because you turned away from me, you are now worthy of justice, since you have treated my mercy with contempt. Yet I am still so merciful that, if it were possible for me to die again, I would much rather suffer that same pain I endured once on the cross all over again for you than see you judged by such justice. But justice says it's impossible for me to die again. Mercy, however, says: if it were possible, I would gladly die for you. See how merciful I am, even to the damned, and how full of love! Everything I do, I do to show my love. From the beginning, I have truly loved humanity—even when I seemed angry—but no one cares for or pays attention to my love.
A Call to the Soldiers of Christ
Christ issues a threefold warning to those called to be His soldiers, urging them to return to their duty and abandon the service of the enemy.
Now, therefore, because I am just and merciful, I warn those who are called soldiers to seek my mercy, so that my justice—which is as steady as a mountain, as burning as fire, as terrifying as thunder, and as sudden as a bow drawn to shoot—does not overtake them. I warn them in three ways. First, just as a father warns his children so they might return to me, because I am their father and creator. Let them return, and I will give them the inheritance that is theirs by right of birth. Let them return, for even though I've been despised, I'll still welcome them with joy and meet them with love. Secondly, I ask them as a brother to remember my wounds and my works. Let them return, and I'll receive them like a brother! Third, as their Lord, I ask that they return to their Lord, to whom they gave their word, and to whom they are bound by both their service and their oath. So, soldiers, come back to me, your Father, who raised you with love! Consider me, your brother, who for your sake and among you became like you! Return to me, your merciful Lord! It's a great dishonor, after all, to give your faith to one lord and your service to another.3 For you gave me your word that you would defend my Church and that you would help those in need. And look, you're giving your service to my enemy; you're even lowering my banner and raising the banner of my enemy! So, you soldiers who have walked away from me through pride, return to me with true humility! If it seems hard for you to suffer anything for my sake, consider what I have done for yours! I walked to the cross on bloodied feet for your sake; I had my hands and feet pierced for you; I spared no part of my body for you. And yet, you neglect all of this by turning away from me. Come back, and I'll give you three things to help you. First, strength against your enemies, both physical and spiritual. Second, I'll give you the courage so you'll fear nothing but me, and so that working for me will feel delightful to you. Third, I will give you wisdom, by which you'll understand the true faith and the will of God. So, turn back and stand firm! For I, who am warning you, am the One whom the angels serve; I am the One who delivered your obedient ancestors, judged the disobedient, and humbled the proud. I was the first in battle, the first in suffering. Follow me, then, so you don't melt away like wax before a fire! Why are you breaking your promise? Why do you treat your oath with such contempt? Am I any less important or worthy than your earthly friend, to whom you keep your word when you give it? Yet to me—the giver of life and honor, the preserver of your health—you don't keep your promise. So, good soldiers, keep your promise; and if you aren't capable of the deed, at least strive for it in your will. For I, feeling compassion for your servitude—the one by which the devil oppresses you—will accept the will in place of the deed.
The Eternal Reward of Faithfulness
Christ promises five eternal rewards to those who defend His Church and invites them to seek His mercy.
If you return to me with love and work for the faith of my Church, I and all my army will meet you like a loving father. And I will give you five rewards: First, eternal honor will never depart from your hearing. Second, you'll never lose sight of the face and glory of God. Third, the praise of God will never leave your lips.✦ Fourth, your soul will have everything it longs for, and it won't long for anything else but what it already possesses. Fifth, you'll never be separated from your God; instead, your joy will last forever, and your life will continue in endless joy. Look, you soldiers, this is the reward you'll receive if you defend my faith and work harder for my honor than for your own! If you have any understanding, remember that I am patient with you, and that you inflict upon me the very same insults that you yourselves would not want to suffer from your own people. But even though I can do all things by my power, and even though justice cries out for vengeance against you, my mercy—which exists in wisdom and goodness—still spares you. So, seek mercy! Because out of love, I offer the things that I should be humbly asked for.
Read the original Latin
"Ego sum verus rex, et nullus est dignus vocari rex nisi ego, quia a me est omnis honor et potestas.
Ego sum, qui iudicaui primum angelum, qui cecidit propter superbiam, cupiditatem et inuidiam.
Ego sum, qui iudicaui Adam et Cain et totum mundum immittendo propter hominum peccata diluuium.
Ego idem sum, qui populum Isra/h/eliticum permisi in captiuitatem venire et eum mirabiliter in signis mirabilibus eduxi.
In me est omnis iusticia, et erat et est sine principio et fine, nec aliquando imminuitur apud me sed semper vera in me permanet et immutabilis.
Et quamuis nunc isto tempore iusticia mea videatur aliquantulum micior et Deus quasi in iudicando nunc paciencior, hoc tamen non est immutacio iusticie mee, que numquam immutatur, sed ostensio maior caritatis mee.
Eadem quippe iusticia et eadem veritate iudicii nunc mundum iudico, qua tunc, cum populum meum Egypciis seruire permisi, qua et in deserto afflixi.
Sed ante incarnacionem meam occultabatur dileccio, quam in iusticia habui, quasi lux abscondita seu aliqua nube obumbrata.
Assumpta vero humanitate licet mutabatur lex data, non tamen mutabatur iusticia sed euidencius apparuit et copiosius illuminabatur in caritate per filium Dei, et hoc tripliciter.
Primo, quia mitigabatur lex, que erat dura propter inobedientes et induratos, et difficilis propter domandos superbos.
Secundo, quia filius Dei passus et mortuus est.
Tercio, quia iudicium quasi longius nunc quam antea ex misericordia et protrahi videtur et micius esse nunc in peccantes.
Multum quippe rigida et stricta videtur iusticia in primis parentibus, in unda diluuii, in morte in heremo prostratorum, et eadem iusticia nunc mecum est et eternaliter fuit.
Sed nunc magis misericordia et caritas apparet, que tunc racionabiliter in iusticia occultabatur et misericorditer, licet occulcius, exhibebatur, quia numquam iusticiam sine misericordia feci nec facio nec sine iusticia pietatem.
Nunc autem potes querere: 'Si in omni iusticia habeo misericordiam, quomodo misericors sum in dampnatos?'
Respondeo tibi per exemplum, quasi aliquis iudex sederet in iudicio et frater eius veniret ad iudicium iudicandus. Cui dixit iudex:
'Tu frater meus es et ego iudex tuus et, licet te intime diligo, tamen non potero nec decet facere contra iusticiam.
Tu vides omnem iusticiam in consciencia tua secundum merita tua. Secundum hanc ergo oportet te iudicari.
Si enim possibile esset venire contra iusticiam, libenter pro te iudicium portarem.'
Ego sum sicut iudex ille. Homo frater meus est per humanitatem. Quo veniente ad iudicium meum, consciencia eius dicit culpam suam et intelligit, secundum quam iudicandus est.
Ego vero, quia iustus sum, respondeo anime per similitudinem dicens sibi: 'Tu vides omnem iusticiam in consciencia tua. Dic ergo, quid mereris!'
Tunc respondet michi anima: 'Iudicium meum dicit michi consciencia mea et ipsum est pena digna pro meritis, quia non obediui tibi.'
Cui ego respondeo: 'Ego, iudex tuus, suscepi omnem penam pro te et notum feci tibi periculum tuum et viam eundi, ne tu venires in penam.
Iusticia quippe fuit, ut ante satisfaccionem culpe celum non intrares. Hanc ego sustinui pro te, quia personaliter impotens eras ad paciendum.
Ego ostendi tibi per prophetas, que michi erat futura, et nec minimum punctum, de quo prophete vaticinabantur, preteriui.
Ego ostendi tibi omnem dileccionem, quam poteram, ut verteres te ad me. Sed quia auertisti te a me, ideo iusticia nunc es dignus, quia misericordiam contempsisti.
Verumptamen adhuc ita misericors sum, quod, si possibile esset me iterato mori, magis eandem penam, quam in cruce semel paciebar, iterum magis paterer pro te quam tali iusticia viderem te iudicari.
Sed iusticia dicit impossibile esse me iterato mori. Misericordia vero dicit, si possibile esset, morerer libenter pro te.
Ecce quomodo misericors sum eciam in dampnatos et quam caritatiuus! Quidquid enim facio, hoc facio, ut ostendam caritatem meam.
Ab inicio quippe dilexi hominem, eciam cum iratus viderer, sed dileccionem meam nullus curat nec attendit.
Nunc ergo, quia iustus et misericors sum, moneo eos, qui dicuntur milites, ut querant misericordiam meam, ne inueniat eos iusticia mea, que est stabilis sicut mons, ardens sicut ignis, horribilis quasi tonitruum, subita quasi arcus extensus ad sagittandum.
Ego moneo eos tripliciter. Primo sicut pater filios, ut reuertantur ad me, quia ego pater et creator eorum sum.
Reuertantur, et dabo eis patrimonium, quod paterno iure debetur eis! Reuertantur, quia, licet contemptus sum, attamen cum gaudio suscipiam eos et occurram eis cum caritate!
Secundo rogo eos sicut frater, ut recordentur vulnerum et operum meorum. Reuertantur, et suscipiam eos quasi frater!
Tercio rogo ut dominus, ut reuertantur ad dominum suum, cui dederunt fidem, cui et obsequium tenentur et iuramento se obligauerunt.
Ergo, o milites, reuertimini ad me, patrem vestrum, qui cum caritate educaui vos! Considerate me, fratrem vestrum, pro vobis et vobiscum factum similem!
Reuertimini ad me, pium dominum! Inhonestas quippe magna est alii domino dare fidem, alii obsequium.
Vos enim dedistis michi fidem, quod defenderetis Ecclesiam meam, quod miseris subueniretis.
Et ecce inimico meo datis obsequium, deponitis eciam vexillum meum et vexillum inimici mei erigitis!
Ergo, o milites, redite ad me cum vera humilitate, qui a me per superbiam discessistis! Si durum vobis videtur aliquid pro me pati, considerate, quid ego feci pro vobis!
Ego iui causa vestri sanguinolentis pedibus ad crucem, ego habui pro vobis manus et pedes perforatos, ego nulli membro meo peperci pro vobis. Et tamen hoc totum negligitis recedendo a me.
Redite ergo, et dabo vobis in auxilium tria! Primo fortitudinem contra inimicos corporales et spirituales.
Secundo magnanimitatem, qua nichil nisi me timebitis, qua delectabile videbitur vobis pro me laborare.
Tercio dabo vobis sapienciam, qua intelligetis veram fidem et Dei voluntatem.
Ergo redite et state viriliter! Ego enim, qui moneo vos, sum ille, cui angeli seruiunt, qui patres vestros obedientes liberaui, inobedientes iudicaui et superbos humiliaui.
Ego fui primus in bello, primus in passione. Sequimini ergo me, ne sicut cera ab igne dissoluamini!
Cur rescinditis promissionem vestram? Cur iuramentum contempnitis?
Numquid ego minor et indignior sum amico vestro temporali, cui si datis fidem soluitis? Michi autem, datori vite et honoris, conseruatori sanitatis, non redditis promissum.
Propterea, boni milites, soluite promissum et, si non sufficitis opere, saltem conemini voluntate! Ego enim, compaciens seruituti vestre, qua diabolus opprimit vos, voluntatem recipiam pro opere.
Si reditis ad me cum caritate, laborate pro fide Ecclesie mee, et ego cum omni exercitu meo quasi pius pater occurram vobis! Daboque vobis pro premio quinque bona:
Primo honor etrnus numquam recedet de auditu vestro;
secundo facies et gloria Dei numquam recedet a visione vestra;
tercio laus Dei numquam recedet de ore vestro;
quarto anima vestra habebit omnia, que desiderabit et nichil aliud desiderabit nisi, quod habet;
quinto numquam separabimini a Deo vestro, sed sine fine durabit gaudium et sine fine in gaudio viuet vita vestra.
Ecce, o milites, talis erit retribucio, si fidem meam defenditis et pro honore meo plus quam vestro laboratis!
Recordamini, si intellectus est vobis, quia ego paciens in vos sum et quod infertis michi talem contumeliam, qualem vos ipsi a vestris non vultis pati.
Sed, licet omnia ex potencia mea possum et licet iusticia clamat super vos vindictam, adhuc tamen misericordia mea, que est in sapiencia et bonitate, parcit vobis.
Propterea querite misericordiam! Ex caritate enim prebeo ea, ad que rogari humiliter deberem."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.14.12-Isa.14.15 — How you have fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who laid low the nations! Isa.14.13 — And you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; above the stars of God I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north." Keep the quotation open into v.14 for continuity. Isa.14.14 — I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'" Close the quotation here so the transition to v.15 lands clearly. Isa.14.15 — But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.
- ↩Ps.34.1 — Of David, when he changed his demeanor before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'micior' (milder/softer) is contrasted with the immutable nature of divine justice, framing the current era of grace as an act of love rather than a relaxation of moral law.
- 2 ↩The reference to those 'struck down in the wilderness' (in heremo prostratorum) alludes to the Israelites who perished during the Exodus, a common biblical image of divine judgment.
- 3 ↩The Latin 'Inhonestas quippe magna est' suggests a profound moral inconsistency or betrayal of allegiance.
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