MERCY IS THE ESSENCE OF GOD

Love keeps no record of wrongs!
       By Jose Therampil SDB, Don Bosco College, Karunapuram, Telangana

  (Note:  Jose Therampil is a Salesian  missionary priest  and a great admirer and promotor of CCV. His article on God’s Mercy is  quite timely as we are observing the year of Mercy. But why confine His mercy to an year?  Shouldn’t it accompany us from womb to tomb? Such are the questions that come up in my mind. It is all thanks to God’s mercy we are what we are, where we are, how we are and what we will be doing till we depart for eternity. God’s mercy and tenderness exploded for the first time in an obscure cattle shed because none of us have ever seen God. I haven’t. Have you? Then how can you speak of seeing Him acting mercifully?  But the world has seen and learned about Jesus an approximation of the divine in human. That is why Vivekananda described  Jesus as the visible image of the invisible God and  as an embodiment of mercy and compassion for the poor and have nots. Hence  what is needed is multiplication of Jesus-like people or our becoming Jesus-like in the way we think, speak and do. Hence the importance the whole world gives to the celebration of Christmas. (see also the Article: Revolution of Tenderness; Christmas is Birth of God’s Tenderness.) May God’s mercy and tenderness abound  through the proper celebration of Christmas which should make us think of the deprived sections of society among us so that we become extensions of what Jesus was:, He went about doing good serving the needy, the sick and the afflicted.  james kottoor)

                        Our loving God has a marvelous memory.  He remembers the smallest good action we have done – even so little as a glass of water given to the needy, but forgets the most heinous crimes we have committed. “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”  God’s mercy knows no bounds. In fact, so great is God’s mercy that it is almost inexpressible. There is none who is beyond his saving power. 

                        God’s mercy is available to all. So his mercy is not limited. How refreshing is to hear that God’s mercy is guaranteed. Jesus gave priority to inner purity and works of compassion. For him, Kingdom of God is justice, mercy and faith. (Mt.23/23). “Bitterness, hate and fear are mind corrosive.  Whereas goodness and mercy are self-diffusive,” said the angelic doctor of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas. Peace is God’s gift to the forgiving person.  Jesus left the comfort zone of heaven and pitched his tent in this tiny planet not to establish a religion, but to take the whole human race back to God and to show us the depth of the Father’s infinite and unfathomable love.  Jesus had the special talent for exercising authority with love and compassion and not with compulsion. “Our God finds it easier to withhold anger than mercy” are the words of St. Augustine of Hippo.

                          Mercy is at the heart of the Christian faith. God is not just merciful – he is rich in mercy. Sin is a relationship breaker. However, God’s mercy means that he does not treat us as our sins deserve. God, our loving Dad knows that we are weak and fragile. If we wipe the tears of God, He will wipe away our tears. Because by our sins we make God weep. The mercy of God is not an abstract idea, but a concrete reality. So mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. This Jubilee Year of Mercy is a golden opportunity to re-discover the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

                         God knows that we are raw people with all the feelings and passions. God loves us even in our mess and sin.  Jesus, the merciful one has categorically told us that if we refuse to forgive and to be merciful, no amount of liturgy and rituals can help us.  “Leave your offering there, go and get reconciled.” Jesus told the Samaritan woman to mend her ways. To experience the mercy of God we need to get reconciled with others. In fact the first two questions that God asked were, “Where are you?” and “Where is your brother?”

Jesus ‘walked the talk’

                          His consoling words from the pulpit of the cross converted the hardcore criminal at his right at Mount Calvary. In Jesus we have an unchanging friend with an everlasting love. Good news was lit  on the horizon when Pope Francis declared the Jubilee Year of Mercy. According to me the greatest gift that I can give to others is unconditional love and mercy. Let us not become prisoners of our past life. “Do not look back because you are not going that way,’ Don Bosco used to tell his boys. We need to experience God as a loving Dad, full of understanding and forgiveness, rather than a policeman waiting with a cane to thrash us each time we commit a sin. It is also my conviction that just by doing ‘good works’ one does not become holy. But one needs to experience the mercy of God which is manifested through the outpouring and anointing of the Holy Spirit.

                         When I was a student of theology, our Canon Law professor Rev Fr. Pazhayampalli Thomas SDB used to tell us often, “Dear friends the Catholic Church is very motherly, very motherly.”  Now I really understand the depth of those words. Laws are not going to save us; wealth and wisdom are not going to save us. But love and mercy of God will save us. In this connection I wish to quote the words of the mystic Saint John of the Cross, “In the evening of our lives we will be judged on love and, nothing else.” Sorrows keep us human, failures keep us humble but the all embracing love and mercy of God keep us going.  Our whole Christian life can be called as a festival of forgiveness and mercy. Pride and jealousy are the characteristics of the devil whereas love, gentleness and mercy are the characteristics of Jesus. In this connection I cannot but quote the exact words of the legendary President of USA Abraham Lincoln, “It is my humble experience that mercy pays better result than strict justice.”

                      There are many references about God’s mercy throughout the Bible. For instance, we find the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. God’s mercy toward Joseph’s brothers, for their betrayal is certainly evident in this story. Other illustrations are found throughout the prayers of King David in the Psalms. God’s mercy is endless and found throughout the ages, to the present. God unconditionally welcomes the repentant sinner.  The heartwarming story of the prodigal son reminds us of that. The elder son who lived a ‘clean’ life was outside the house and the younger son            who led a ‘rotten’ life was inside. The mercy of God is inscrutable to human mind and human rationalization. We cannot describe God completely. An ant cannot describe an elephant.

                       God’s mercy far exceeds, and surpasses our wildest dreams. God’s mercy can turn even the driest land become a garden; can breathe life to dry bones. Once we experience this personal mercy and forgiveness of God we will be transformed. The story of Saint Paul bears witness to this fact. A fierce persecutor of the Church became an ardent architect of the Church. After that God experience on his way to Damascus, he becomes, first a witness, then a preacher, then a prophet, then an apostle, then an Epistle writer and finally a martyr thus glorifying God. So too, we need the touch of the mercy of God not merely the knowledge about God, we must talk to God not merely talk about God. Only two people in the entire Bible were called meek: Moses and Jesus.

See Jesus in the poor

                        We need to serve the disfigured face of Jesus in the poor and the marginalized of the world and take the aroma of God’s love and mercy to them, as taken up by the heroic persons like Blessed Mother Teresa, St. Damian and thousands of missionaries the world over . “The poor need the work of our hands and the love and mercy of our hearts,” Blessed Mother Teresa used to say. Only an intense God experience can compel a person to cross continents and accept challenges.

                        Peter, the denier, under the eye of the Son of God, became at once Peter the penitent.  Jesus chose Peter who knew sin rather than the beloved John, as the rock upon which to build His Church. Peter looked at the tree of life, the cross, whereas, Judas looked at the tree of death. Judas represents total rejection of Jesus, but Peter represents a loving return.  The difference between a sinner and a saint is that one persists in sin, while the other weeps bitterly.

                       It is good to have a catharsis, a cleaning out, a venting, of all the things that have been pushed down inside us and causing us depression. The illiterate and smelly fisherman, Peter was given the privilege of enjoying the fragrance and aroma of Heaven. Judas also would have been forgiven if he had asked for pardon, because forgiveness is the essence of Jesus. We must accept the Fatherhood of God and experience His care, mercy and providence.  If not, we will be haunted by fear and anxiety. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. (Jn: 5/22)

                       A follower of Jesus is called to remove the darkness of evil around by radiating Jesus’ love by selfless service, unconditional forgiveness and compassionate care. An illuminating anecdote says that, once a priest was reluctant to forgive a lady at the confessional. Then the priest heard a voice from the crucifix behind him, “I died for her sins, not you.”