Mercy deserves our gratitude

March 30, 2008 -- Second Sunday of Easter / Divine Mercy Sunday

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What is your understanding of mercy? 2. Which of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy can you do this week? Next week? 3. What is your response to human misery?

There are many attributes of God that deserve our attention and gratitude. The attribute of love, of compassion, of slow to anger are just a few. Another is that of mercy. In Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" we read: "It [mercy] is an attribute of God himself; / And earthly power doth then show likest God's / When mercy seasons justice" (Act IV, sc. I, line 193-195).

Divine Mercy Sunday

What exactly is mercy? The Catholic Encyclopedia offers this definition: "Mercy, compassionate sorrow at another's misfortune together with a will to alleviate it; it is genuine love in relation to an unhappy being. The encounter of love and misery gives birth to mercy, which is therefore one of the essential forms of charity, situated in the very heart of Christianity" (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas). Indeed, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt. 5:7).

Jesus is the merciful love of the Father. When he appears to the frightened disciples locked behind closed doors, his greeting is one of peace. Jesus "felt" their misery and his forgiving word alleviated their fear and shame. Even more, he immediately empowered them through the gift of the Holy Spirit to become agents of mercy and peace to others. These "unhappy beings" could now rejoice and throw open the doors of freedom.

Jesus extended his merciful love to Thomas, the famous doubter. In some way Thomas tasted the pain and agony of the wounded, risen Lord. Thomas' love and Jesus' "misery" gave birth of a new, merciful spirit. Thomas, too, became an agent of God's compassion and forgiveness.

Mercy seeks expression. Within our rich Catholic tradition, we have a listing of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that invite us to be specific in our addressing the misery of the human condition. To live the corporal works of mercy - feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, ransoming the captive, and burying the dead - is to walk in the way of our merciful God. To live the spiritual works of mercy - instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing the sinner, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving offenses, comforting the afflicted, and praying for the living and the dead - is to be a disciple of the Lord.

The early Christian community, as recorded in the Acts, pooled their resources and then addressed the needs of all. There was here a sense of the common good that challenges our contemporary individualism. The source of this sharing was rooted in the person of Jesus, in the grace of love, and in the virtue of mercy.

St. Peter's letter states our theme well: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . ." (1 Pt. 1:3). It is God's mercy that takes away our misery; it is God's mercy that changes us from "unhappy beings" into joyful disciples. Indeed, "may his mercy endure forever."

(Bishop Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)