Letter 846: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
All things properly and opportunely ordered, whatever the holy Scriptures have written, are rightly interpreted only by those who possess both learning and humility. Those who have learning without humility corrupt the text with their pride; those who have humility without learning distort it through their ignorance. But confess that we have sinned, for only through confession does healing begin. We acknowledge that in many things we have erred, through carelessness, through presumption, through the weakness of our nature. And yet the mercy of God is greater than all our transgressions, and his patience exceeds our capacity to test it. Therefore let us not despair of forgiveness, nor presume upon it. Let us approach the throne of grace with reverence and contrition, offering not the sacrifices of bulls and goats, which God does not desire, but the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, which he will not despise. For the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. And yet, even amid these trials, the faithful soul finds a peace that the world cannot give and cannot take away. For the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards the hearts and minds of those who trust in him. The storms may rage and the waves may crash, but the one who has built his house upon the rock of faith will not be shaken. Let us therefore cast all our anxiety upon him, for he cares for us, and let us receive from his hand both the bitter and the sweet, knowing that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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