The question is why the need to shine a spotlight on that which is obvious.
Down the ages there have been devotions dedicated to God’s mercy. It was right there at the inception of the Church where the human heart became the most fitting symbol associated with mercy. The description of blood and water flowing from the side of Christ, or from His Heart, entered quickly into liturgical language, and was rightly read by the Church as the wellspring of her Sacraments. Even the Evangelist St John can be said to be the first Apostle of Mercy since he rested his head on the Heart of Christ. Through St Margaret Mary Alacoque, we catch a glimpse of God’s merciful love through the Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That was about 400 years ago. Of course, we are currently more familiar and more at home with the Divine Mercy as revealed to us through St Faustina. Most recently, Pope Francis’ Misericordiae vultus declared 2016 as the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
According to St John Paul II, “Divine mercy reaches human beings through the Heart of Christ crucified”. Thus, at the Canonisation of Sr Faustina Kowałska, JPII fulfilled the desire of the Lord, for in the diary of the sainted religious, Jesus instructed: “I want the Image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it… My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy”.
If God’s mercy has been consistent, then the issue is with us because we suffer from acute amnesia. If gratitude is the memory of the heart, then forgetfulness must be the font of ingratitude. If one probes further, one realises that there really is no need to emphasise that God is merciful because, as the Psalmist would chant, His mercy endures forever. Moreover, every Mass, every Eucharist is a celebration of God’s mercy.
The very need to institute the Sunday of Divine Mercy reveals just how imperfect Man’s memory is. We need regular reminders that God is merciful as the history of salvation is littered with the debris and detritus of our forgetfulness. For example, the Jansenist heresy with its insistence on rigorous penitential practices was almost a denial of God’s merciful love. In that era, Jesus appeared to St Margaret Mary to reassure humanity of His enduring mercy. Clearly, the problem is that our hearts can be so callused that we do not recognise God’s mercy even when it is right in our faces.[1]
The human dilemma is such that mercy is a quality we most desire but least appreciate.
Consider a fault you have, preferably a weakness which you have been struggling with for a long time. Gossiping or taking pleasure in damaging the reputation of another person. Pinching small items that do not belong to you and excusing it as negligible since no one really cares about. Cursing and swearing when driving. Lustfully looking at people as sexual objects. Our faults are plenty. In general, everyone here has battles with his or her sins. Who would not want to be freed of his or her demon? After all, no one here is a canonised reprobate or sinner. If you were torn asunder and worn out by interior conflicts, would you not feel that you deserve a break? Everyone wants to be understood in his or her struggles. The searing temptations, the false starts, the continual failures and the depressing inertia of having to start all over again. Merciful relief would be to have a listening ear and the assurance that one is not being judged.
The irony is that what we most desire, which is mercy to shown us, we are often not generous in return. Like the unforgiving debtor, we easily zero in on the faults of others and the more we dislike a person, the larger his or her faults would appear and conversely, we tend to overlook the same defects in a person we like. As long as we dislike a person, nothing that he or she does will ever be right.
In this lopsided and entitled mercy, we will only have room for God’s mercy. Perhaps it might be good to reacquaint ourselves with what mercy truly is because desiring God’s forgiving mercy is not a one-way street. As St Thomas Aquinas reminds us: “Mercy without justice is dissolution. Justice without mercy is cruelty”. God’s mercy and His justice are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they embrace as Jesus reminded Sr Faustina: “Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion… Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice is near”. (Diary #965). As much as we want God to understand our struggles, we have a duty to render, in justice, to Him a heart purified by conversion. Conversion is the appropriate and grateful response to God’s merciful love.
The conversion of hearts directs us to the bigger picture of what we are doing these days: Easter. By His Passion, Death and Resurrection, Christ did not just restore humanity but offered Man a renewed covenant as His people. God is merciful because we are His people. However, He is not “helplessly” merciful but instead, in His generous love, He invites us to respond in kind, in love. To His people He gave the Sacrament of Forgiveness. Breathing onto His Apostles, He commanded them to remit sins. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation we benefit from His Mercy. In our desire to change, we return to His mercy again and again.
To stress that God is merciful does not make Him more merciful or add anything new to Him because His mercy endures forever. However, Mercy Sunday reminds us not to forget His mercy so that we will not let up in our effort at conversion. It is a life-long journey, which at every turn, if we are attentive, God’s mercy awaits to refresh us for this pilgrimage.
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[1] Just look at Moses and the Israelites after the Passover from Egypt. The desert was strewn with bodies of those who forgot God’s faithfulness. Right after their escape from slavery and whilst enjoying God’s providence, they murmured against Him.
