A drowning man will catch at a straw. So too we might think of this poor sinner speaking to God: "So You are just, Lord, and I can expect only justice at this tribunal? If that be so, deign to hear me. It is true I have sinned grievously, true that I neglected warnings and died in mortal sin. But, Lord, there are mitigating circumstances; there are excuses which a just Judge must take into account before pronouncing sentence."
And what might they be, these excuses? He might claim that death overtook him unawares. He went on living in sin, but he always had the intention of putting everything right before the end. He had, in fact, a certain priest in mind, and he often told himself that one day he would visit that priest and make a really good Confession. But what happened was that he died in his bed, having lain down to sleep in mortal sin. What happened was that he went for a swim in summertime got into difficulties in the water, was suffocated before
he could even think of making an act of sorrow. What happened was that he came out of a night club, crossed the street and was knocked down by a passing car and killed on the spot. Surely, a just Judge must take into account the fact that he had always had these good intentions, and failed to fulfill them only because he did not have opportunity.
And God would at once point out that he had had warnings. He had seen many others die suddenly. He had been reminded many a time that death will come like a thief in the night. He was told to be always ready, for at what hour he thought not the Son of Man would come. Preachers and missionaries brought these sobering thoughts to his memory, but he dismissed them with a smile of disdain; they must talk like that, you know, or go out of business!
It was the act of a maniac to lie down to sleep with mortal sin on his soul, to go for that swim, to cross that street, and not be always ready to die. "In all things remember your last end and you will never sin."
Other excuses are equally futile. He might, for instance, tell the Judge that he finds himself in this dreadful predicament all through his own thoughtlessness. He mixed with a set who had long ago outgrown all these childish beliefs. Hell was a bogey and sin a misnomer. Why, they bragged about the sins they committed and jeered at his scruples, and little by little he went their way and succeeded in forgetting he had a conscience.
So he died in mortal sin because he did not reflect. Life was such a jolly experience that he considered serious thought would rather spoil it. But once again the Judge would reply: Why did he not think ? For what purpose did God give him a mind? "With desolation is the whole earth made desolate because there is no one that considereth in the heart."
Does the sinner advance as argument the fact that he was fiercely and persistently tempted? Certainly temptation can at times be a torment, but God would at once remind him that "God is faithful" and will not allow any to be tempted "beyond what they are able, but will make also with the temptation issue that you may bear it."
Lord, whatever be my past record, whatever sins I have done or caused others to do, I know and believe that, from this moment until I die, it is possible for me never to commit another mortal sin. One day I shall stand before You for my trial. Strengthen me now that You may save me then.