Year of Mercy, part 1: God's Mercy

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In this  Extraordinary Jubilee, Year of Mercy, I’ve given talks on mercy, which meant researching this topic. I gleaned some thoughts on mercy that you might find worth pondering. Pope Francis declared the year in hopes that new flood of mercy will flow over the world. He said, “Mercy is the true power that can save humanity and the world from sin and evil.” The document announcing the year states “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace.”
Like a precious jewel, mercy has several facets: God’s mercy in helping those in trouble, God’s mercy in forgiving sinners, our mercy in reaching out to the needy, and our mercy in forgiving others.
According to some theologians mercy is the greatest, most stupendous of God’s attributes…not God’s omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresent, immutability, and so forth. It follows that as sons and daughters of God we resemble him. We should exhibit the “divine gene” of mercy. The theme of this year is Christ’s commandment: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” St. John Chrysostom said, “Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.”
Mercy is more powerful, more profound than justice. Blessed (or happy) are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy is considered the “umbrella beatitude.” The other beatitudes flow from it. We all long to be happy. God made us to share in his happiness. Mercy leads to happiness. Click to continue

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