Homily Sept 27, 2020 - Message of Mercy

Growing up in a big Catholic family in Ireland was quite an adventure. My two sisters and five brothers kept our parents busy, not to mention the farm work we all shared - although we boys took turns behaving like the 2 brothers in our gospel when it came to doing our chores. Let’s just say there was never a dull, or quiet, moment.

Our faith life, however, was always very important, and we all had to learn our Catechism answers, say the rosary, etc. We were taught that God loved us, but this was just one very small piece. Even more important at the time, we were taught that God was always watching from up in heaven. Unfortunately, God was presented not so much as a loving presence, but more as a policeman, judge, and jury to keep us in line. If we were good, we could expect our prayers to be answered. But we weren’t always perfect, so we didn’t expect much.

Even as small children, we couldn’t get away with anything. Every Saturday we walked to the country church for Confession and then tried to avoid fighting with a sibling or name-calling or saying a bad word just long enough to make it to Communion on Sunday morning.

We were even taught that a good faithful person, maybe even someone like our grandmother, could live a long, wonderful life, but if they told a single lie on their deathbed, they would suddenly wind up in hell forever. And it wasn’t just children who believed this. So did the adults.

If anyone else here was also taught some form of this damaging and distorted version of God by a family member or someone in the church, please accept my apology. I know my parents and childhood pastors were doing their best. They were just teaching what they themselves had been taught. But there was one essential piece missing from their faith life. This was a tragedy for us, and also for them. What was missing was the central importance of God's mercy.

Think back to our beautiful Psalm response we just shared. “Remember your love and your faithfulness, O God. Remember your people, and have mercy on us, Lord.” Love, faithfulness and mercy. This is not just a song. It is the heart of God.

So many people have missed God’s message of mercy, just as I myself largely missed it when I was growing up. Even though God in the Book of Isaiah told the people of Israel “I will never forget you, my people.” Even though their holiest object, the Ark of the Covenant, was covered by the Mercy Seat, where God faithfully promised, “There I will meet with you.” Even though the Bible’s prayer book, the Book of Psalms, was full of promises of kindness and mercy. Even though Jesus the Son of God lived a life full of healing, forgiveness and mercy.

Even with all that, some people still get it wrong. You’d think that the message of mercy would come through loud and clear, but somehow we missed it anyway. There are always people like the Temple Chief Priests and Elders in today’s gospel, quick to impose their own judgments on others, so sure that God is just as narrow-minded and rigid as they themselves are.

Very recently a woman who was in great distress came to talk to me. Her husband was nearing the end of his battle with a terrible fatal disease and he was convinced that he would die and wind up in hell forever. Even though she and her husband weren’t Catholic, she came to me searching for help.

After some silent prayer, I had an idea of what to say, because I’ve been faced with this same thing many times before. So I talked to him about God’s kindness and mercy. Two days after I talked to him, we had the Gospel reading that said God forgives 70 X 7. I told him of the endless love God has for every one of us. There are no exceptions, no barriers between God’s love and even the least of us, including people of any faith, or no faith, of every age and every nation. That ‘policeman, judge and jury’ in the sky was never a true image and likeness of God, no matter what anyone taught you. When we suffer, the God of mercy suffers with us, as near as our own heartbeat. And death itself is how we approach the final Mercy Seat, where God is always waiting to meet us with open arms and embrace us with great joy.

Right now, I can’t even count the number of funerals where I had to console heartbroken friends and family members who never learned about God’s mercy. I’m so thankful that God has sent this message of mercy and hope to offer to them.

This is especially true when the one they loved died by suicide, as happened again last week. That funeral is this Thursday. On these families it’s even more important to shine God’s light of mercy and hope bright enough to cut through all the past misinformation. God knows our human pain, since Jesus himself died such a painful death. God is very near to all those who are suffering, both physically and mentally. Anyone in so much physical or emotional pain that they end their own life could never be held responsible for that choice by their own Creator. What loving parent would turn their back when their child is suffering that much? When that person dies, God is waiting right there at the Mercy seat, ready to wipe away every tear.

In the end, we are all beloved children of God. Every one of us. Mercy isn’t just something God does for people who earn it or ask properly or join the right church. Mercy is God’s beating heart, God’s living self. Since we are all made in the image and likeness of God, this is who we are too, deep in our own hearts. Each of us is sent as a messenger of mercy and if we look at our own world through eyes of mercy, we will see what we need to do. We will understand the stresses that those around us are under. We will care about the daunting health, financial, or family problems so many people are facing today. And let us not forget that even, when dying on the cross, Jesus forgave a guilty thieve. He offered his mercy to the Roman soldiers who were killing him and it is our call, our challenge to treat others in like manner. Because if we would remove mercy from Christianity, we would remove its’ heart and if we make mercy a central virtue of our lives, we are imitating Jesus which is what we are called to do every moment of every day.