March 22, 2011 Tuesday: Divine Mercy- Rich In Mercy (Part 2)

Click to hear audio homily

While I was greeting people after one of the weekend masses, a couple with a tiny newborn baby boy stopped to speak with me. The little boy’s name is Andrew, and he was sleeping contently, embraced securely in loving arms. At that time, this infant did not have a permanent home. This baby had been taken in by the state's adoption agency and it was in the process of seeking a family for the baby. Meanwhile, this couple had become his temporary family, and he was staying in a home that was rich in mercy. For the past few years, this couple has volunteered to be temporary surrogates for the State and they have taken care of more than ten children like Andrew. Their hearts are filled with compassion for these children. They understand through their experiences what Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Rich in Mercy: As Jesus taught in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," he demanded of the people the same love and mercy as a condition of mercy.

How can we grasp what mercy is? In the Old Testament, mercy is described as the tender love of a mother and also as the heart's womb. Mercy is described as more powerful and more profound than justice. Jesus powerfully describes this tender love of a mother through a Parable of a Prodigal Son. Many have said that this is really a Parable of the Prodigal Sons' (plural) Father. The younger son had no love for his father, alienated himself from the father, and fell into deep sin. The older son had no love for his father but stayed at home with the proper appearances of obedience, yet without love. Yet their father was rich in mercy for both sons. The father's heart was moved with tenderness and patience for the younger son who in his selfishness squandered all his inheritance, as well as for the older son who demanded merit and reward. As the Pope John Paul points out, each of us in each age is the prodigal son. How many people have I encountered in my office or in the confessional who have said to me, how can God love me when I did such horrible things? The lesson of the Prodigal Son for all of us is that we are the beloved of the Father, and the Father is always waiting; His love for us is transformed into mercy, to restore us to value, and to draw good from evil.

The other day, I went to the church early in the morning, genuflected, and sat down in a pew. As I was hurrying to say my morning prayer, I noticed the face of agony on the Jesus on the cross. I asked, "Jesus, why do you suffer so much on the cross?" Really, the question was, "Jesus, why do you love me so much?" John Paul said in the Encyclical, "The Cross is the final word of Christ’s messianic mission, speaking unceasingly of God the Father as merciful...Believing in the crucified Son is believing in love present in the world." I wondered to myself, how long did it take for me to see the Cross and realize that God was expressing His total love for me? Certainly it was not when I was in high school or college when I abandoned all the rich treasures and grace of my Catholic faith. I can identify with the younger prodigal son who squandered all the wealth, for I did the same with my faith. The treasure I had before throwing it away were the words that Heavenly Father spoke to me, "You are the Beloved, on you my favor rests." Once that treasure was thrown away, the trash of the world began to fill the void.

This trash reeked of darkness, and while in this darkness I heard, "You are no good, you are ugly; you are worthless; you are despicable, you are no body--unless you can prove the opposite." The great temptation of self-rejection takes hold--"Prove that you are worth something; do something relevant, spectacular, or powerful, and then you will earn the love you so desire." Yet John Paul wrote, "The Cross is the radical revelation of mercy." It is from the Cross that Heavenly Father speaks tenderly, "I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother's womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step...I have offered my very life for you so that you may have life and have it abundantly." This is the Father whom I encountered when I rediscovered my faith -- a Father rich in mercy.

Little baby Andrew who greeted me after mass may not know for a long time anything about his biological father or mother. However, what he knows now through the loving arms of the couple that cares for him is that he is a Beloved child of God -- a beloved child from the very moment of his creation. That is the power of God's mercy.