by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
“Mercy is the garment of light which the Lord has given to us in Baptism. We must not allow this light to be extinguished; on the contrary, it must grow within us every day and thus bring to the world God’s glad tidings…God’s mercy accompanies us daily. To be able to perceive his mercy it suffices to have a heart that is alert” (Pope Benedict XVI, 2007).
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, established by Pope St John Paul II in 2000.
As he said at the Canonisation of Sr Mary Faustina Kowalska (2000): “Christ has taught us that man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called to practise mercy towards others: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5: 7)… Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father’s love and of fraternal unity.”
During this Holy Year of Mercy, let us reflect on how we allow the gift of God’s Divine Mercy to impact on/influence our daily lives.
As an Easter people; as people of the Beatitudes, are we practising mercy? Freely we have received His mercy, and freely we must let it flow through us to others: those in our family, in our communities; those living on the margins; the elderly, the sick, the disaffected, those in prison.
In His message to St Maria Faustina Kowalska (see her Diary, 742), Jesus says that “the fullness of mercy” is contained in our actions, words and prayers: “I demand from you deeds of mercy, you must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it. I give you three ways of exercising mercy, the first by deed, the second by word, and the third by prayer. In these three degrees are contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By these means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.”
We are also reminded of the need to ‘act’ in James 2:26: “Faith without works is dead.” We cannot be ‘armchair’Christians in a world that so desperately needs God’s mercy.
Read Archbishop Harris’ Pastoral Letter entitled: Merciful like the Father. Inter alia, he urges us to practise corporal and spiritual works of mercy. He says: “… in this Year of Mercy, I exhort each one of you to revisit these practices and commit yourselves to them as a concrete expressions of your desire to be as merciful as the Father who lets the sun shine on both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike”.
He lists practical ways in which we can answer the call to mercy, for example: Meditate on the Word of God, Rediscover the practice of silence, Judge not!, Forgive!, Give!
God’s mercy demands that we walk with the two feet of Christian Justice: works of mercy and works of social action. But in order to SEE-JUDGE-ACT from a Catholic perspective, we must reflect on questions such as the following which His Grace urges us to ask ourselves (CCC 2247):
- “Why it is that in a land as rich as ours, there are so many who live in the degradation of poverty, depending on the spasmodic generosity of strangers for their daily bread?
- Why is it that so many young families cannot afford decent lodging?
- Why is it that so many of our people cannot access the health services they need or receive the basic medicines necessary for their well-being?
- Why are there so many homeless of all ages and ethnicities on our streets?
- Why are our prisons becoming a growth industry, swallowing the lives of many young people, costing large sums of money, and becoming a school from which the “graduates” emerge more violent and destructive?
- How is it that we have grown accustomed to this state of affairs?”
In today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31) Jesus utters the words: “Peace be with you” three times. Remember that we are also the recipients of God’s peace and that He wants humanity to live in Peace. Just as He sent the disciples to spread the Good News, we are also sent to be His instruments of justice, peace, truth, love, freedom and forgiveness in the world.
Let us pray: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
