[Monday Motivation]
Yesterday we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday.
Once we have an eye and an ear for it, we find that Divine Mercy is written throughout scripture.
We reminded ourselves last week that the Latin for mercy is misericordia – empathy to the point that our heart suffers for another.
We see this in Christ again and again. Before Jesus feeds the multitude we are told, “He was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd.” Before raising Lazarus, Jesus weeps with sorrow. And again, when looking over Jerusalem before meeting with his torture and death, He again weeps and says, “how often I have longed to gather your children together.”
And we have the example of Mary, whose heart was so given to Christ that when His side was pierced by the soldier’s lance, hers was as well (“and your soul too a sword shall pierce”).
And what of us? Much of the New Testament is Christ’s teaching on how we live out the great commandment – to love God and our neighbor; and mercy is the highest expression of love. Thus Jesus gives many teachings and parables, most famously the Good Samaritan, to give us the example of mercy that we should show to our neighbor.
But, how are we to be merciful to God? What can we possibly offer Him?
Well, Pope Benedict tells us that divine mercy is, “the heart of the Gospel.” Another word for the heart of the Gospel is the Kerygma (Greek for proclamation). Ok, and what is the kerygma? Here’s how Pope St. John Paul II defined it (in Catechesi Tradendae), “the initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith.”
Note JPII’s choice of the word, “entrust.” Indeed, when Jesus communicated His message of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina, He told her this, “The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is — trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive.” (Diary entry 1578) And that leads to the simple and powerful Divine Mercy prayer, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
Jesus desires our trust. He longs for our trust. He hung on the cross – His ultimate act of mercy – to draw us to Himself – to stir our own hearts. Our act of mercy, uniting our heart with Christ, is to place all our trust in Him.
When we read the Gospel through the lens of Divine Mercy we see a love story of God giving His heart to us, and inviting us to give ours to Him in return.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life