LUKE 3:1-6
IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE NEWS, YOU
KNOW THAT THE YEAR OF MERCY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. AND IT IS A GOOD TIME
TO THINK ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR VIRTUE. SO WHAT IS MERCY?
WE ALL HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT
JUSTICE IS. JUSTICE MEANS THAT WE GET WHAT WE DESERVE; IF WE HAVE
DONE SOMETHING WRONG, WE RECEIVE PUNISHMENT; IF WE'VE DONE SOMETHING
GOOD, WE GET A REWARD. AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH. YOU
COULD PROGRAM A COMPUTER TO ADMINISTER JUSTICE; YOU DON'T NEED A
JUDGE.
AND THEN WE THINK ABOUT MERCY AND SORT
OF CONTRAST IT WITH JUSTICE. IF JUSTICE IS GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE,
MERCY IS NOT GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE IF YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG,
AND MAYBE GETTING FAR MORE THAN YOU DESERVE IF YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING
GOOD. MERCY SEEMS TO MEAN THAT SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T
DESERVE IT.
BUT MERCY IS NOTHING LIKE JUSTICE; IT
HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH JUSTICE.
THINK ABOUT IT. IF SOMEONE GIVES ME
SOMETHING THAT I DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO, ARE THEY BEING MERCIFUL?
WELL, THERE MAY BE MANY OTHER POSSIBILITIES.
PERHAPS THEY WANT TO INFLUENCE ME SO
THAT I WILL OWE THEM SOMETHING. THAT ISN'T MERCY. PERHAPS THEY
LOOK DOWN ON ME AND THEIR GIFT IS SORT OF A DECLARATION THAT THEY ARE
SUPERIOR TO ME. I THINK A LOT OF POOR DEPENDENT PEOPLE CAN SENSE
THAT. SOMETIMES A PERSON SEEMS UNGRATEFUL, BUT SHE SENSES THAT WHAT
APPEARS TO BE OUR GENEROSITY IS JUST A FORM OF PRIDE. SAINT FRANCIS
DE SALES SAID THAT THIS KIND OF GENEROSITY WOULD MAKE THE POOR HATE
YOU FOR THE BREAD YOU GIVE THEM.
MERCY ISN'T THE SAME THING AS CHARITY
EITHER. CHARITY IS A GREAT GOOD, AND A GOAL FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN.
CHARITY IS THE GIVING OF SOMETHING OF OURSELVES – TIME, TALENT,
TREASURE – FOR THE GOOD OF OTHER PEOPLE. WHEN BILL GATES OR WARREN
BUFFET SPEND THEIR MILLIONS ON THINGS THAT WILL BENEFIT MANKIND,
THAT'S CHARITY. WHEN MOTHER THERESA AND HER SISTERS SPEND THEIR
LIVES HELPING THE POOR AND DESTITUTE, THAT'S CHARITY. THERE MAY BE
MERCY THERE AS WELL, BUT NOT NECESSARILY.
SO WHAT IS MERCY? WE COULD SAY THAT
MERCY IS LOVE IN ACTION. THEN WE HAVE TO ASK, WHAT IS LOVE? THE
ANSWER GIVEN BY SAINT THOMAS IS SIMPLE: LOVE IS WANTING THE BEST FOR
ANOTHER PERSON. IF I WANT THE BEST, I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT IS THE BEST;
AND IT HAS TO DO WITH ANOTHER PERSON, A REAL CONCRETE HUMAN BEING,
NOT MANKIND, NOT SYRIAN REFUGEES, NOT THE HOMELESS.
SO IN ORDER FOR ME TO BE MERCIFUL TO
YOU, THE FIRST STEP IS TO RECOGNIZE YOU AS AN EQUAL, WORTHY OF MY
LOVE AND LOVED BY GOD AS MUCH AS GOD LOVES ME. THE SECOND THING IS
TO LOOK AT YOU AND ASK WHAT IS IT THAT YOU NEED TO BECOME A BETTER
AND MORE COMPLETE PERSON. THE THIRD, OF COURSE, IS TO DO SOMETHING
WITHIN MY POWER TO AT LEAST BEGIN TO ACCOMPLISH THAT. MERCY MEANS
THAT I LOVE YOU NOT JUST FOR WHO YOU ARE, BUT ALSO FOR WHO YOU COULD
BECOME, HOW GOD MEANT YOU TO BE.
AND ODDLY ENOUGH TODAY'S GOSPEL IS
ABOUT MERCY. SAINT LUKE TAKES GREAT PAINS TO TELL US THAT AT A
PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, WHEN HEROD WAS THIS AND PHILIP WAS THAT
AND THESE PARTICULAR MEN WERE THE HIGH PRIESTS, THAT WAS THE PRECISE
MOMENT WHEN GOD DID SOMETHING NEW; WHEN GOD BEGAN TO INTERVENE IN THE
AFFAIRS OF MEN. AND THE FIRST STEP WAS TO INSPIRE JOHN THE BAPTIST
TO CARRY A NEW MESSAGE TO GOD'S PEOPLE. THE MESSAGE WAS NOT THAT GOD
WAS READY TO FORGIVE YOUR SINS, BUT THAT FORGIVENESS WAS ALREADY
THERE, AND THE BAPTISM OF JOHN WAS A SIGN THAT YOU ACCEPTED WHAT GOD
HAD TO OFFER. AND THE PASSAGE FROM ISAIAH – THE WORLD WOULD LOOK
PRETTY STRANGE IF ALL THE VALLEYS WERE FILLED UP AND THE MOUNTAINS
LEVELED, IF THE CROOKED WAYS WERE MADE STRAIGHT; BUT ISAIAH IS
DESCRIBING GOD'S ACTION TOWARDS HIS PEOPLE – HE IS TEARING DOWN THE
BARRIERS BETWEEN HIM AND HIS PEOPLE, SO THAT THE WAY TO GOD IS LIKE A
HIGHWAY; GOD NO LONGER KEEPS HIMSELF APART FROM MAN.
MERCY, YOU SEE, IS GOD-LIKE. GOD
LOOKS AT HIS CREATION, AT HIS PEOPLE, AND SEES THEM AS THEY WERE
MEANT TO BE – LIKE ADAM AND EVE BEFORE THE FALL. AND GOD SEES EACH
OF US AS INDIVIDUALS, LOOKS AT US WITH LOVE, AND WANTS TO RESTORE US
TO HOW WE SHOULD BE AND EVEN MORE. AND GOD LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE
BECOMES ONE OF US; HE DOESN'T LOOK DOWN UPON US FROM THE HEAVENS, HE
JOINS US AS AN EQUAL ON THE EARTH AND LOOKS AT EACH OF US EYE TO EYE.
HE THEN OFFERS US WHAT WE NEED TO BE COMPLETE, TO BE THE WAY HE
MEANT US TO BE; HE OFFERS US HIMSELF. WE TALK ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION
AND DEATH OF JESUS IN TERMS OF PAYING A DEBT WE CAN'T PAY, OR HIM
UNDERGOING A PUNISHMENT THAT YOU AND I DESERVE, SO THAT GOD WILL NO
LONGER CONDEMN US. BUT GOD NEVER DESIRES EVIL, NOT FOR US, NOT EVEN
FOR HIS ONLY SON. WHAT GOD REALLY DOES IS BECOME ONE OF US SO THAT
HE CAN TRAVEL THE SAME JOURNEY WE MAKE, SO THAT HE CAN LIVE OUR
LIVES OVER AGAIN, IN A SENSE, THE RIGHT WAY. AND IN DOING SO, THOUGH
IT'S A GREAT MYSTERY, HE UNITES US TO HIMSELF AND WE THROUGH NO POWER
OF OUR OWN, WE ARE GIVEN THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME WHAT HE MEANT FOR US
TO BE.
AND THAT'S OUR CALL AS WELL; WE HAVE
BEEN THE RECIPIENTS OF MERCY, SO WE ARE CALLED TO BE GIVERS OF MERCY.
IN A VERY CONCRETE PRACTICAL WAY, WE NEED TO CULTIVATE IN OURSELVES
A CERTAIN HUMILITY SO THAT WHEN WE SEE ANOTHER PERSON, WE DON'T SEE
THEM AS PART OF A CLASS – AS POOR, AS DISABLED, AS A CRIMINAL, AS
REFUGEES – BUT INSTEAD, WE SEE THEM AS SOMEONE GOD LOVES AS MUCH AS
HE LOVES ME. AND THEN WE NEED TO SEE HOW GOD WANTS THAT PERSON TO
BE, NOT AS HOW HE IS RIGHT NOW. AND THEN WE DO WHAT WE CAN TO MAKE
THAT HAPPEN. IF THIS IS HOW WE APPROACH EACH OTHER, THEN WE ARE
PRACTICING MERCY.
THE GOSPEL THIS SUNDAY TELLS US THAT
IN HIS MERCY GOD FILLS UP VALLEYS AND TEARS DOWN MOUNTAINS AND MAKES
WINDING ROADS STRAIGHT AND ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH SO THAT THERE ARE NO
BARRIERS BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE. AND WE ARE INVITED TO HELP IN
THAT TASK WHERE EVEN A SMALL EFFORT ON OUR PART WILL BE MAGNIFIED
THROUGH GOD'S POWER.
THE CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY IS
RECITED HERE EVERY TUESDAY AT 3:00 PM BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT;
THIS COMING TUESDAY IS THE SOLEMN FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
AND IT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL THING IF MANY OF OUR PARISHIONERS WERE TO
PARTICIPATE IN THIS DEVOTION. WHAT BETTER WAY COULD YOU SPEND
FIFTEEN MINUTES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR OF MERCY?
