The same startling scenario applies to the Disciples hiding in the Upper Room. They were afraid and unsure for they had left everything behind to follow this compelling leader but now, what to make of their charismatic leader’s death. He who walked on water, multiplied loaves and raised the dead was Himself powerless against death.
Into this turmoil and fear, Christ appeared and greeted them, “Peace be with you”. The Risen Lord’s greeting is so powerful that it is manifested in the liturgy. At the beginning of every Mass, the celebrant has a choice of three salutations plus “one more” to greet the congregation. The “one more” is what you heard in the Gospel just now. “Peace be with you”. This particular greeting is personally associated with Jesus which explains its reservation for use only by Bishops when they celebrate the Eucharist.
The person of the bishop expresses the fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In the hierarchy of the Sacrament of Orders, the bishop stands for the Lord, par excellence. Thus, as the Sacrament of Jesus Christ, the bishop greets the congregation as if the Lord Himself is present to say: “Peace be with you”.
To hear the salutation, “Peace be with you”, is to recognise Christ in our midst. The context of this greeting was of a man who, having suffered death, came back to life. Bearing the wounds of our sins on His Body, He returned to greet those whom He loved and bestowed upon them His peace. Even after betrayal, denial and abandonment, He did not come back to castigate or chastise. Instead, He unreservedly poured onto them His peace and breathed upon them His Spirit. Christ in the midst of their fear revealed the quality of His mercy. He loved them even when they did not deserve Him.
Thus, it is fitting that right after the Resurrection, we celebrate Divine Mercy. However, our grasp of the notion of God’s mercy can be skewed. What we think of as God’s mercy is closer to indulgence. One of the greatest acts of mercy that Christ illustrated is seen in the woman caught in adultery. The crowd that prided itself on being on the right side of the law, paraded the adulteress to humiliate, shame and also to force Jesus to prove His religious credential. He showed mercy by not condemning her but neither did He confirm her behaviour because He told her firmly to “go and sin no more”.
Just about 10 days before, Jesus hung on the Cross between two thieves. One was repentant and the other not. Yet both suffered the same consequence of their punishment. They both had their legs broken to hasten their death and Jesus who had promised the repentant thief heaven did not come down from the Cross to relieve Dismas of the consequences of sin, judgement, punishment.
Mercy is indeed an expression of God’s generosity to us. We are undeserving but He is nevertheless excessive in His forgiveness. As the woman caught adultery has shown us, what is written into mercy is always a profound invitation to correct our lives and to enter into a deeper filial relationship with God where we are also called to be merciful like God is. Mercy joins us to God and to other human beings because it breaks down the walls separating us from God and prevents us from the peace that flows from trusting God’s infinite mercy.
In 1927, a Jesuit priest, Miguel Pro, stood in front of a firing squad. Was he fearful? Maybe. Was he at peace? Definitely. As the shot rang out, he shouted out Viva Cristo Rey. It sounded like a cry of defiance but it was more a proclamation of trust in God’s mercy because mercy flows from a heart that is at peace, a heart that is sure that beyond temporal life, there is Resurrection.
Without Christ’s peace we will struggle with mercy. Without mercy we struggle with forgiveness because our idea of justice is heavy-handed. Our sense of justice is possibly closer to revenge exacted. To give an example, there are talks and whispering that a shameless kleptocrat and his scheming rapacious wife will be pardoned royally. Many still suffer the damage that these thieves have done to this country’s economy and how the future generation will continue to pay for the price of their greed and rapacity. Our idea of justice is that they should be locked up and the keys thrown away. If they were pardoned, many who hold dear to the principles of justice would be devastated and hopes shattered.
It is true that there has to be a balance between mercy and justice. As St Thomas Aquinas rightly pointed out, “Without justice, mercy is indulgence. Without mercy, justice is cruel”. While not forgetting the necessity of justice, our hope must be tied to the Resurrection. It means that both mercy and justice do not necessarily find their resolution in this world. When we are convinced that there is Resurrection, we are at peace knowing that no evil will go unpunished and no good deed will go unrewarded in the after-life. Even if these two kleptocrats were freed, while deeply disturbing, we are at peace assured that their justice will be meted out not by us but by the Lord.
What possesses a martyr to face death peacefully or to accept the grave injustice of our kleptocracy, is a firm belief in the Resurrection. Without the peace of the Risen Christ poured into us, we will struggle to show mercy because our hearts will always be buffeted by the winds of revenge, not justice. The Resurrection gives peace to a martyr facing death and grants knowledge that beyond death both justice and mercy will always embrace. That was the reason Miguel Pro shouted “Long Live Christ the King”. He was at peace because he was convinced that the Lord’s mercy and justice extend beyond this world. Mercy flows from a heart filled with the peace of Christ because it is no longer fearful that justice will not be served in this world.
