From Indifference to Mercy

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conversion of hearts, heart of God, Holy Year of Mercy, indifference, love for others, mercy, Pope Francis, Psalm 103, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning Psalm 103 reminds me once again that Pope Francis has called this year “A Year of Mercy.” Perhaps by coincidence – but maybe not – I found the Pope’s New Year’s message last evening and was struck by a section entitled, “From Indifference to Mercy: the Conversion of Hearts.” Here’s a bit of what he said.

Mercy is the heart of God. It must also be the heart of the members of the one great family of his children: a heart which beats all the more strongly wherever human dignity – as a reflection of the face of God and his creatures – is in play. Jesus tells us that love for others – foreigners, the sick, prisoners, the homeless, even our enemies – is the yardstick by which God will judge our actions. Our eternal destiny depends on this.

We know too much of our world to be indifferent to those in need. When we pray, “Lord, have mercy,” we ought to hear ourselves asking and perhaps hear as well God saying back, “You too, you have mercy!” We can hardly avoid that call because we can no longer separate ourselves since the faces of those in need of our mercy rise up to meet us at every turn. As the psalmist might say today, we swim in mercy as in an endless sea (vs. 10), so great is God’s care for us. How can we fail to act in like manner?

 

Tender Mercy

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2016, faithful servant, Holy Year of Mercy, I am a sinner, lift my soul, love, misery, path of life, pity, Pope Francis, poverty, psalm 86, sinners, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, wretchedness

Pope Francis has not only declared 2016 a “Holy Year of Mercy” but has opened up a vast well of meaning for a word that has often been seen as a synonym for pity and to describe our wretchedness as sinners. I hear and image Francis himself as God’s messenger and embodiment of the fullness of that term. In announcing to the world “I am a sinner,” Francis displays no fear or despair in that acknowledgment but always seems confident in his relationship with the God who is always willing to bring us back to a loving embrace. Psalm 86 exudes that confidence this morning, beginning with a call to God to incline your ear, O Lord and have mercy…Listen to my favorite translation (below) – for best effect, read aloud.

My God, stoop down to me, and putting close your ear, let me speak my poverty, my misery of life to you – and then, I beg you, whisper back your answer clear. I am your faithful servant and I trust you, Lord, to keep a watchful eye upon my path of life. Treat me with greatest mercy and most tender care, for you, my God, are all I have; there is no one else but you to whom I speak throughout the day. So I lift my soul to you that you would flood my heart with secret joy. For in your presence goodness flows as constant as a stream, forgiving me. This is the essence of your love for anyone who calls to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Year of Mercy

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Christian, discrimination, God, healing, Holy Year of Mercy, Jubilee of Mercy, love, mercy, mercy of God, Pope Francis, reawaken, Roman Catholic, tenderness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vigilant, violence

Pope Francis has become a model, not only to Roman Catholics or Christians, but for people the world over who respond to his message of humility and love for all people as well as for the world in which we live. To point up the necessity for us to consider how we are responding to this essential message, Francis has called for a Holy Year of Mercy which begins today. Here are some excerpts from his homily for the occasion on which he announced this special year.

…Our prayer is all the more intense and becomes a cry for help to the Father, who is rich in mercy, that He may sustain the faith of our many brothers and sisters who are in pain. At the same time, we ask for the grace of conversion of our own hearts so as to move from indifference to compassion…Many question in their hearts: Why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God’s presence and closeness. This is not the time to be distracted; on the contrary, we need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential…to be a sign and instrument of the Father’s mercy. For this reason, the Holy Year must keep alive the desire to know how to welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers the whole world and, above all, to those who suffer…

Juxtaposed with all the violence and discrimination in our country and throughout the world, it is easy to agree that the message of Pope Francis is not only timely but crucial if we are to ever heal the wounds of the world. There will be much more to say in reflection on the concept and practice of mercy as the year unfolds, but for today, in this season of waiting for a new birth grounded in love, it is enough to believe that we are able – each of us and all of us – to do our part to realize the goal set forth today, to be the mercy of God in our time.