Friday, March 11, 2011

On not abusing grace...

A brother asked Abba Poemen, “If I see my brother sin, is it right to say nothing about it?” The old man replied, “Whenever we cover our brother's sin, God will cover ours; whenever we tell people about our brother's guilt, God will do the same about ours.”

From: The Desert of the Heart: Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers ed. Benedicta Ward SLG, Darton Longman & Todd, 1988.

I often think we  abuse the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are trying to follow him, how is it that we think we can withhold from others the grace which he has freely given us, and at such terrible cost?

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