Mercy and faith

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Second Sunday of Easter (Or Sunday of Divine Mercy), lead us to hear the Word in Scripture and Tradition about mercy and faith.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhutton

The Acts of the Apostles describes the sharing concern of the early Christian community for each other.

* [4:32–37] This is the second summary characterizing the Jerusalem community (see note on Acts 2:42–47). It emphasizes the system of the distribution of goods and introduces Barnabas, who appears later in Acts as the friend and companion of Paul, and who, as noted here (Acts 4:37), endeared himself to the community by a donation of money through the sale of property. This sharing of material possessions continues a practice that Luke describes during the historical ministry of Jesus (Lk 8:3) and is in accord with the sayings of Jesus in Luke’s gospel (Lk 12:33; 16:9, 11, 13).

In the First Letter of John, faith is described as the source of power in the world for the Christian.

* [5:1–5] Children of God are identified not only by their love for others (1 Jn 4:7–9) and for God (1 Jn 5:1–2) but by their belief in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ. Faith, the acceptance of Jesus in his true character and the obedience in love to God’s commands (1 Jn 5:3), is the source of the Christian’s power in the world and conquers the world of evil (1 Jn 5:4–5), even as Christ overcame the world (Jn 16:33).

The Conclusion of the Gospel of John follows the deep profession of faith by Thomas, recipient of the mercy of God in his encounter with the Resurrected Jesus.

* [20:1–31] The risen Jesus reveals his glory and confers the Spirit. This story fulfills the basic need for testimony to the resurrection. What we have here is not a record but a series of single stories.

Carol Zuegner declares that we all doubt. She characterizes doubts about our ability, our loved ones, our being abandoned. Sometimes we are not sure we are worth much.

The good news: We can believe in Jesus, in the crucifixion and the resurrection. Even if we can’t touch the nail marks or the scourges in Jesus’ side, we can believe in the presence of Jesus in our lives.
And if we believe in that presence, we have to erase the doubt about ourselves and others. Today also is the Sunday of Divine Mercy, fitting as God’s mercy compels us to act, to forgive, to console, to help. Acting with mercy compels us to overcome our doubts about ourselves and about others. I can help. I can contribute. I can see the God in others and in myself.

Pope Francis teaches that mercy is key to the life of faith.

Harry Elias SJ shares a wealth of connections to Scripture that encourage us to keep asking whether we truly believe in, and so experience, the power of God’s mercy.

The faithfulness of God in fulfilling these prophecies is seen both as judgment on evil and as merciful love, bringing forgiveness. For Jesus, salvation and God’s mercy were the focus; his warnings of judgment were to enable people to repent and receive God’s mercy in the grace of forgiveness. Jesus suffered obediently the judgment of death for sin, which is common to all, but in his rising from the dead, God’s mercy comes in the Holy Spirit, with forgiveness for all who repent and believe in him and are baptised (see Acts 2:38).

The Catholic Culture website shares this excerpt from the Diary of Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska.

"[Let] the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.

Don Schwager shares a prayer for disciples of Jesus today.

"Lord Jesus Christ, through your victory over sin and death you have overcome all the powers of sin and darkness. Help me to draw near to you and to trust in your life-giving word. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and strengthen my faith in your promises and my hope in the power of your resurrection."

Friar Jude Winkler comments on Luke as a bit of a pollyanna, the community in the First Letter of John now needing commandments, and the different viewpoints of the mystic and the historian on the timing of the Spirit given to the Apostles. Thomas declares a strong profession of faith that Jesus is God even in light of Shema prayer of Jews.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that Jesus returned to the “flesh” after the Resurrection; so, flesh cannot be bad, as it is the ongoing hiding place of God.

Christianity makes a daring and broad affirmation: God is redeeming matter and spirit, the whole of creation. The Bible speaks of the “new heavens and the new earth” and the descent of the “new Jerusalem from the heavens” to “live among us” (Revelation 21:1-3). This physical universe and our own physicality are somehow going to share in the Eternal Mystery. Your body participates in the very mystery of salvation. In fact, it is the new and lasting temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and throughout Paul’s letters).

Our need for mercy and the renewal of mercy as the centre of our understanding of the heart of Jesus is our starting point for continuing to “Come and See” the Way.

References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts4:56

(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/5

(n.d.). John, chapter 20 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20:1

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(2015, April 10). Doubting Thomas and faith in the resurrection | Thinking Faith: The .... Retrieved April 8, 2018, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/doubting-thomas-and-faith-resurrection

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/