Divine Tenderness

In the Book of Wisdom, we find a very moving section that synthesizes the spirit of Psalm 103. “But You have mercy on all, because You can do all things: and You overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For You love all things that are and loathe nothing that You have made; for what You hated, You would not have fashioned. But You spare all things, because they are Yours, O Lord and lover of souls” (Wis 11: 23 -26).

He forgives and loves, and He cannot stop himself from loving. We repeat: In the face of moral misery and human frailty, instead of feeling bitterness and anger, God feels pity and compassion. It could not be otherwise because He knows us much better than we know ourselves; and therefore He understands us and easily forgives us more than we do ourselves.

We can deduce from this, how wise and realistic the content of Jesus’ revelation is! When He tells us that the last shall be the first, that the poor are loved in a special way, that the wounded and sinners receive the preferential care of the Father and that, Papa God pours all His affection over all humanity caught in the undertow of the river of life. The greater misery, the greater is His tenderness, because in the end only love can heal misery. Such wisdom!

From the book Psalms for life by Fr. Ignacio Larrañaga