to extend mercy to us out of his love to a race that justice demands be eternally punished for our rebellion against God that originated in the first big“ no” of Adam and Eve. Mercy comes to us because of our sin that we can’ t get out of ourselves no matter what we do.
Reason for Death and Suffering
Do you know why we die? It is the just punishment for sin that God enacted after our representatives turned away from him and cast their lot with the devil. It was“ through the envy of the devil that death came into the world”( Wis 2:24), not because of the will of God.
But, as we will see over and over, the wages of sin is death( Rom 6:23), and sin begets its own punishment, since sin is contrary to our nature and leads us further away from the happiness that we most deeply desire. But it is in Christ and through his blood that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven, so immeasurably generous is God’ s favor to us( Eph1:7-8).
Unless we understand the awful truth of our situation, it is impossible to understand what mercy really is. As someone once said, unless we understand the bad news— what we deserve by nature is death— when we hear the good news of God’ s mercy it strikes us as“ no news.” And this, unfortunately, is how many people understand mercy these days. They don’ t understand the seriousness of the sin that required such a sacrifice for our forgiveness!
Secondly, we need to comprehend what the holy justice of God required— a deed that could fittingly“ make up for” millennia of sin and injustice, not only of the past but of the future. Such an offering in the wisdom of God could only be made by God himself taking on our nature in the man Jesus, who then became the new representative of the human race. Through his obedience even to death on the cross( Phil 2:8), Jesus overcame the disobedience of Adam.
Thirdly, we need to understand how utterly precious the mode of our redemption is. That God would do this for us!
“ So, when mercy is offered, we are faced with a choice: to receive mercy with gratitude or remain cold to it with indifference.”
Doesn’ t that loving act now lead us to praise, to gratitude, to confide our whole lives to such love? Doesn’ t it make us want to“ sing of his mercies, forever”?
And won’ t we be forever grateful for
God’ s mercy? Yes, yes, and yes. So, this indeed is mercy— unearned pardon, gratuitous gift. How must we respond to such a gift for it to be effective in our lives?
Repentance Must Be the Response Mercy requires a response for it to be fruitful. It requires a response by the very nature of the situation in which mercy comes to us— it comes to us in our sin, in our distance, in our indifference. And it comes to us in such a tender way that it respects our freedom.
So, when mercy is offered, we are faced with a choice: to receive mercy with gratitude or remain cold to it with indifference.
And remember: The indifference to the things of God that is so characteristic of life in this world— indifference to the many mercies and warnings that God gives today— puts us at great risk of condemnation at the hour of our death or when the Lord returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.
Everywhere in the Gospels we find Jesus expecting mercy to result in genuine repentance and a changed way of life. Remember, the Prodigal Son had to make a decision, a change of direction—“ I will return to my Father”— that opened up the door of the son’ s heart to the restoration that the Father was always ready to extend to him.
And remember the woman caught in adultery? Jesus mercifully didn’ t condemn her but clearly told her not to sin again:“ Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again”( Jn 8:11).
Is Merciful Living Required?
I would be remiss, though, not to mention that true conversion means not only abstaining from serious sin but also living a life of mercy. It’ s absolutely true that“ faith without works is dead”( Jas 2:17).
In that key text from Ephesians 2, we read in verse 10:“ We are truly his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.” God has prepared for us a life of good works. The good works of the Christian life are prayer, service, love, worship, evangelization, etc.
In his document proclaiming the Jubilee Year of Mercy( Misericordiae Vultus, henceforth MV), Pope Francis asks us to focus on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as a way of making sure we are reaching out beyond ourselves to the needs of others. Sometimes, the Holy Father so strongly emphasizes being non-judgmental that people don’ t notice that he is clear— and in harmony with his predecessors, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Scripture— that a response to mercy by way of conversion is necessary for mercy to be effective.
In the very first paragraphs of his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, he makes this point clear. The Joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.... I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ.... Now is the time to say to Jesus:‘ Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace.’... God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.( No. 1)
And in Misericordiae Vultus, he makes clear that accepting mercy involves faith, repentance, and a changed way of life. Pope Francis, for example, sees the central symbol of the Jubilee of Mercy, the Holy Door— specially designated doors in certain churches around the world as well as in the primary basilicas of Rome— as doors that lead those on pilgrimage to“ discover a path to conversion”( MV, no. 3). The pilgrimages that are encouraged as part of the Jubilee of Mercy are seen by Pope Francis as“ an impetus to conversion”( no. 14).
10 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring 2016