Q. Ok. So back to my earlier question: which sins exactly can be forgiven in this world and which in the next?
A. Ah yes. So we were saying that firstly only sins that we are truly sorry for can be forgiven at all, be they mortal or venial.
Then secondly, the one and only sin that CANNOT be forgiven either now on earth or after we die is unrepentance, refusing forgiveness. Our Lord refers to it in Mt 12:32 as "speaking against the Holy Spirit".
God will not force salvation on us. He tragically respects the freedom he granted to each of us. St Augustine - that great African genius - would say "God who made you without you, will not save you without you." Another writer says that at each man's judgement, either we tell God "Your will be done" or God tells us "YOUR will be done". It is either/or. God does not force us because love doesn't force. Love coos and woos. God also coos and woos and uses everything else other than force to get our attention and to convince us He is the ultimate happiness we are looking for. He uses nature and the environment, the judges and the prophets, the saints and the martyrs, our work and our family, our successes and failures, our sports and our studies, our hobbies and our past-times to grab some prime time of our attention. "Hello!" he shouts. "It's me!"
And when those fail, he even uses our pains, our sorrows and our suffering. "The meaning and purpose of suffering in history is that it leads to repentance. Only after suffering, only after disaster, does Israel, do nations, do individuals turn back to God. Suffering brings repentance. We learn the hard way. As C.S. Lewis says, “God whispers in our pleasures but shouts in our pains. Pain is his megaphone to rouse a dulled world.”
Pray for peace in the world!
15th November 2015