God is gracious and merciful?

"So the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." (Exodus 34: 6 - 7).

Tuesday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Chrysologus (406 - 450), Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Who is Peter Chrysologus? "As Bishop of Ravenna, Italy, he was famous for his outstanding skill in preaching (thus the nickname Chrysologus, or "the golden worded"), for his charities, and for his writings." (Roman Missal).

In our key Scripture for today, we see the self revelation of God as:
"gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." Is this how you see God? In case we imagine that this is an isolated trait of God's character, this is typical trait of God and continues in the Responsorial Psalm:

"The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever.

"He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him." (Cf Psalm 103: 6 - 13).

We have above the true character of God. He is also just. Both our first Reading from Exodus 34 and the Gospel reading from Matthew 13 did not forget that God is  just:

The Lord does not declare the "guilty guiltless" (Exodus 34: 7).

"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers." (Matthew 13: 41).

"The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you." (1 Peter 1: 25).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com