God's undeserved and constant mercy

"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."

(He has freed me from my despair and from now on, my steps are guided by Him, my Rock. I believe. Amen!)

(The last part) is the final stage when the saved soul trusts Me so entirely it seeks no more its own way but leaves all future plans to Me its Rescuer.

(Lord, you have rescued me and I want to reach this beautiful stage of entire trust in you. Lord, you know my heart and its ways. I believe that you have planned for me such a beautiful future that I cannot thank you enough for it. Praise you!)

You will conquer. The conquering spirit is never crushed. Keep a brave and trusting heart. Face all your difficulties in the spirit of Conquest. Rise to greater heights than you have known before. Remember where I am is Victory. Forces of evil, within and without you, flee at My Presence. Win Me and all is won. All.

(I will rise each time I fall. My God is my Rock. I am fearless against the enemy and his thwarts. I will never fully fall because I have God in me. My God has already won the ultimate battle for me through His resurrection. The enemy will never gain control of me for I am His child.)

'This "sapping of strength"(from sin)makes us ineffective servants of God.'

(How strong but essential a message!)

Therefore let everyone pray to you while you may be found. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:5-7

(Go back to God before you completely lose Him. Turn back to Him in prayer. He has been guiding my steps and shielding me from evil. I want to praise Him for having delivered me.)

'Hiding our sins and refusing to confess them brings about spiritual sickness, loss of strength against further sin attacks.'

(The longer I delay confession, the sicker my soul is and the more unable it is to fight sin.)

Self-imposed euthanasia

A cancer-stricken retiree wants to die at her own time. As a Catholic, I am against that. Deciding when and how to die is playing God, amongst other ways of doing so. However, it is the most serious way of disregarding God as the Master of our lives. Also, we believe that committing suicide will cause our souls to go to Hell. Granted, she may not be a Catholic.

My mum was a cancer patient too and she suffered for 5 years. Towards the end, she was in great pain but she never once thought of this. Her gift of faith sustained her throughout the ordeal. We, as family members and fellow Catholics, saw the need to prepare her for eternal life with our God. I remembered St Joseph as the patron saint of a happy death and prayed to him for this grace on her. He did give her one. She went into a coma before her pulse stopped beating. She passed on peacefully.