Today is Divine Mercy Sunday in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Pope Francis dedicated this entire year to the crucial role of mercy in the lives of Christians. Pope St. John Paul II articulated people’s desperate need for mercy on June 7, 1997 when he visited the tomb of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in Lagiewniki, Poland.
“There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy – that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights of the holiness of God.
In this place, we become particularly aware of this. From here, in fact, went out the message of Divine Mercy that Christ Himself chose to pass on to our generation through [St.] Faustina.
And it is a message that is clear and understandable for everyone. Anyone can come here, look at this image of the merciful Jesus, His Heart radiating peace, and hear in the depths of his own soul what [St.] Faustina heard: ‘Fear nothing; I am always with you’. And if this person responds with a sincere heart, “Jesus, I trust in You,” he will find comfort in all his anxieties and fears.”
Truth be told, before I started this article , I didn’t know a whole lot about Divine Mercy. I heard about St. Faustina, I saw the Image painted by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, and even watched the televised Chaplet of Divine Mercy on EWTN. But I was still relatively clueless. Overwhelmed by the mystery surrounding this subject, I found myself returning to the same question again and again: What is mercy?
What is Mercy?
The Meriam-Webster online dictionary describes mercy as: “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender[,] a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion [and] compassionate treatment of those in distress”.
Notice how the word “compassion” is present in all three definitions? Meriam-Webster further defines compassion as: “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it”.
So, logically, in order for there to be mercy, compassion must be present as well. Now, with a clearer understanding of what both words mean, how does one go from “head knowledge” to “heart knowledge”? If a person approaches you on the street and asks you to show them what mercy looks like, what would you do? Where would you take them?
Would you lead them to a homeless shelter, a pregnancy crisis center, or a soup kitchen? Would the two of you visit a retirement community? Would you invite them to participate in a mission trip to Haiti or Africa? Would you have them follow you into a courtroom on the day a verdict has been reached? Would you bring them into a church? Or even your own home?
How Do You Show Mercy?
Maybe an even better question is: How do you show mercy? In the 2015 film Little Boy, the main character Pepper Flynt Busbee (Jakob Salvati) believes he can end World War II and bring his father home. At one point, he has a discussion with the local priest, who gives him a list. By putting into action the seven things listed on it, the boy thinks that his wish will come true but when it doesn’t, the boy becomes frustrated. Going back and having another talk with the priest, we come to find out that Pepper is only going through the motions. His intentions may be in the right place, but he’s half-hearted in his follow-through.
That list turns out to contain the Corporal Works of Mercy. And it is only after Pepper goes back, and commits whole-heartedly to the list, that events begin to change positively. In addition, he discovers seven more to add to his list: the Spiritual Works of Mercy.
Like the fictional character in Little Boy, maybe you need to examine how you show mercy to others. One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy states: “Be patient with those in error.” But how do you act when you’re standing in a long line with an irate customer chewing out the cashier? What if you are the irate customer? How do you respond when someone drives out in front of you? Or when your spouse is yelling at you?
Pope Francis
With the Catholic Church now celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy, clearly even Pope Francis believes that mercy is important. In his book, The Church of Mercy, he states:
“But, careful! Jesus does not say, Go off and do things on your own. No! That is not what he is saying. Jesus says, Go for I am with you! This is what is so beautiful for us; it is what guides us. If we go out to bring his Gospel with love, with a true apostolic spirit, with parrhesia, he walks with us, he goes ahead of us, and he gets there first. This is fundamental for us: God is always ahead of us! When we thinkabout going far away, to an extreme outskirt, we may be a bit afraid, but in fact God is already there. Jesus is waiting for us in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, in their wounded bodies, in their hardships, in their lack of faith.”
Genuine mercy inspires us to be compassionate with one another. Especially when other people aren’t being particularly compassionate in return. It draws us out of ourselves. To place ourselves at the service of God and others. It can make a positive difference in a world filled with broken, lost, and hurting people. In short, mercy should call us into motion. Into action. Otherwise, we’re just going through the motions.
