as a man obstinately resists grace, it is obvious that he cannot receive pardon, for the simple reason that he refuses to have anything to do with the grace which would move him to contrition and penance. Such an one is like a drowning man who refuses to take hold of the helping hand which is held out to him. Because, however, the human will can be converted as long as a man remains on earth, God can give a sinner such an extraordinary measure of grace, that his resistance is broken down, and he is saved. We ought, therefore, never to despair of the conversion of a sinner, however obstinate in sin he may appear to be; and the more impenitent he is, the harder we ought to pray for him. In chapter LXXXVI we shall see that, though St. Stephen said to his persecutors: “You resist the Holy Ghost!” he, nevertheless, prayed for them when he was dying.
Calumny. The Pharisees calumniated our Lord most shamefully by saying that He was in league with the prince of devils.
The weapons of unbelief. Lies and calumny were the weapons used by the unbelieving Pharisees against our Lord. They are to this day the weapons with which unbelief and heresy attack the doctrine and Church of Jesus Christ.
Hell. If there are sins which can be forgiven “neither in this world nor in the world to come”, there must be a state of everlasting punishment. Therefore it is said in Mark 3, 29: “He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.”
Purgatory. From our Lord’s words that the sins against the Holy Ghost shall be forgiven “neither in this world, nor in the world to come”, the Fathers of the Church rightly conclude that certain sins will be forgiven in the world to come. Now, there can be no forgiveness of sin in heaven, for nothing sinful can enter there at all. Neither in hell is forgiveness of sins possible, because the damned are incapable of amendment: therefore there must be a middle state between heaven and hell. This middle state is Purgatory, where the soul is cleansed from venial sins, and where satisfaction is made for sins already forgiven.
The General Judgment. Our Lord’s words in this chapter indicate that all men of all ages will be gathered together for judgment at the Last Day. “The men of Ninive . . . the queen of Saba shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it!”
The Resurrection of our Lord is the miracle of miracles, and the decisive sign which vouches for the divinity of all His other miracles. It was the final test by which the unbelieving Jews were called on to believe and be saved.
Our Lord's prophecy. By referring the Jews to “the sign of Jonas the prophet”, our Lord most distinctly foretold His Burial and Resurrection.
