{"id":152672,"date":"2014-11-18T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-can-we-reconcile-gods-mercy-with-his-knowledge-of-those-who-will-be-lost\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:22:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:22:24","slug":"ask-a-priest-can-we-reconcile-gods-mercy-with-his-knowledge-of-those-who-will-be-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-can-we-reconcile-gods-mercy-with-his-knowledge-of-those-who-will-be-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAsk a Priest: Can We Reconcile God’s Mercy with His Knowledge of Those Who Will Be Lost?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: In today\u2019s Mass homily our pastor talked about our merciful Father, and during his homily a question came to my mind. God, being eternal, is also timeless and because of that he knows everything past, present and future. For example, God knows if a baby conceived in the womb will go to heaven or hell. Can you help me to reconcile that with the mercy of God? -S.G.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/p>\n

A: Your query touches on the notion of predestination, God\u2019s foreknowledge of our actions, and our free will. The fact that God knows in advance what we will choose does not take away our free will in choosing it. Nor does it take away from his mercy.<\/p>\n

A few key ideas might help here.<\/p>\n

First, God offers us sufficient grace to overcome any temptation. \u201cGod is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength\u201d (1 Corinthians 10:13<\/a>). If we sin, then it\u2019s because we have chosen to sin. God respects the freedom he gave us.<\/p>\n

Second, God\u2019s foreknowledge of someone\u2019s damnation does not mean that God causes the soul to be lost. An analogy might help here: If you see someone toss a glass vase out of a third-story window, you know that the vase will shatter when it hits the street below. Your awareness, as the vase is in its free fall, that it will soon shatter does not mean that your knowledge will cause the vase to break.<\/p>\n

Third, God\u2019s mercy goes hand in hand with his justice. If someone rejects God, then God will not force his friendship on that person. That person, however, will face the consequences of his decision.<\/p>\n

Fourth, it is good to remember that God doesn\u2019t owe us anything. Every grace he gives is an act of mercy. The response he wants from us is one of love. Love presupposes free will. And free will can be abused. That abuse is how people in effect choose hell for themselves.<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s perfect plan we all would make it to heaven. But he respects our free will, and the result is that some people misuse it. At any rate we can still be sure of God\u2019s mercy. I hope this helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152672"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=152672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}