Wi t n e s s i n g G r o w t h by Fr . Josia s Dia s da Costa
Relief in Reconc iliation by Br. Nicholas Rich
The Latin word misericordia = mercy, is the result of blending the words miseratio = compassion and cordis = heart. For its part compassion is also the result of linking cum = with, and patire = suffer. Mercy is letting one’s own heart be touched by the suffering of another; it is feeling what the other is feeling, it is sharing in the sorrow of another.
I was raised in a Protestant home, converting to the Catholic faith with my family as a sophomore in high school. Since then, I have always associated mercy with reconciliation. It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to come up with a list of things a sophomore in high school might confess, so needless to say I was pretty relieved when it was over. This relief (you might call it peace) is what I think of when I think about mercy.
Mercy isn’t a passive sentiment; it is neither pity nor a feeling of pain, but it is the concrete expression of the love of God for us and the concrete realization of love within us for our neighbor. Pope John Paul II emphasized that we not only receive and experience the mercy of God, but that we are also called to be merciful to each other. It is by being merciful like the Father that our hearts are transformed. Pope Francis recently said, “In short, the mercy of God is not an abstract idea, but a concrete reality with which he reveals his love as of that of a father or a mother, moved to the very depths out of love for their child. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that this is a ‘visceral’ love... Jesus affirms that mercy is not only an action of the Father; it becomes a criterion for ascertaining who his true children are.” Pope Francis says that mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life to be lived and to be given like an inexhaustible desire; to be announced and be witnessed to with urgency; to be called upon “in this difficult but crucially important phase of the history of the Church and the world;” to be announced as the “beating heart of the Gospel;” to be shouted out “by words and deeds”; to be welcomed like “an oasis” (§12); and finally to be celebrated and experienced. If we can put it this way, it is the “concretizing” in our practical life of God’s love, which by touching our hearts and inflaming our compassion, makes us leave behind our indifference and moves us forward on behalf of those who suffer and who are despised. 6
Kansas Monks
Mercy, while it is a grace, God’s unmerited gift to us, also requires our repentance. The doctor can only heal the wound when the patient reveals it. God always heals if we are penitent and allow Him to enter our hearts. That peace I experienced after my first confession, however much of a relief it may have been, was nonetheless God’s consolation for me. Today, when I hear the priest’s words at the end of absolution, “Christ has forgiven you, go in peace,” I truly experience a peace in the knowledge that I am living right with God. Mercy comes from God, but is bestowed upon us with the expectation that we share it. Think of the man who was forgiven his debts but, in turn, went and persecuted the man who was in debt to him. Hopefully we are not that man on Judgment Day. I thank my parents for teaching me the importance of both giving and receiving forgiveness; I think it is probably the greatest skill they taught me. I thank God, too, for opportunities to seek forgiveness from others. How awesome an experience when we truly humble ourselves before another person! It is in this humility that the paradox of Christianity comes into full effect. We are not strong when we cling to our pride and refuse to admit our wrongdoings. Christ’s strength is perfected in us when we are weak and vulnerable. In this Year of Mercy, may we allow Christ’s strength to be enough for us.
