Catholics honor God’s Prophets who predicted the future. Just as Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be “born of a virgin” (Isaiah 7;14), he also predicted that Daniel, whose name means “God is my Judge”, would be taken to Babylon in Isaiah 39:6-7:
“Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon… and they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you… and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon.”
That Prophecy was fulfilled when Daniel, at the age of 15, was taken to Babylon in 605 BC and chosen by King Nebuchadnezzar to serve him “in the palace”, along with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There, they served under 3 more kings, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus.
They were thrown into a blazing fire by those jealous of their closeness to God, a situation with which every Catholic is familiar. Miraculously living among the flames, they asked for, and received God’s “kindness and great mercy”, repeating David’s request from 400 years earlier in Today’s Psalm 25:4-0, “Remember Your mercies, O Lord.”
Today’s Verse Before the Gospel tells us what God said we should ask of Him from Joel 2:12-13: “‘Even now’, says the LORD, ‘return to Me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful.'”
Mt. 18:21-35 tells us we cannot receive God’s Mercy unless we are willing to have mercy on those who sin against us “seventy-seven times”.
Catholics see there is no mercy from The God Who asks The Question of The Ages: “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I have had pity on you?”
The eternal fate of unforgiving souls is clear: “Then, in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will My Heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
The Sacrament of Confession and Absolution gives Catholics proof that we have God’s Mercy because He Who Fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies gave His Catholic priests This Power in John 20:23: “Those whose sins you forgive on earth are forgiven in Heaven.”
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “Catholics give mercy to receive mercy / from The God Who Is Mercy.”
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