This Sunday we celebrate Divine Mercy – God’s supernatural gift of mercy to each of us.
A somewhat legalistic definition of mercy correlates it to justice. Whereas justice is to receive what we are owed by someone, mercy is to give someone what they don’t, technically, deserve. That is what Christ did on the cross – He took on our sins to offer us salvation, even though we don’t deserve that.
But we can come to a more relational way of looking at mercy, by considering the Latin – misericordia. Cordia is “heart.” Miseri is “suffering” or “pain.” Mercy, looked at this way, is to take on someone else’s suffering to the point of our own heartache.
The heightened attention to Divine Mercy was brought about by Jesus’ private messages to Sister Faustina Kowalska (now, Saint Faustina).
St. Faustina’s diary is classic spiritual reading for all persons and all times. Two particular themes stand out:
- Christ suffered and died for each of us – specifically and uniquely. You were on His mind and heart as He endured His passion. To paraphrase the prophet Isaiah, “It was your pain He bore, your sufferings He endured.” Miserecordia.
- We are called to join our sufferings to those of Christ. The grace from this is two-fold. First – we “console the heart of Jesus.” Second, in doing so we join in His redemptive work (as St. Paul tells us – “we make up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” because by our free will we accept the sufferings that come our way and freely offer them to Christ)
In our follow-up emails we’ll look at how mercy echoes through all of scripture, and we’ll look at practical ways of availing ourselves of God’s divine mercy and sharing it with others.
Easter blessings –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life