I am spending some time preparing for a series of classes I will offer at a local retreat center. I like doing these kinds of things because they attract a different kind of person than the normal college student sitting in my classes. Probably no one who comes to the retreat center will fall into the 18-22-year old age range. Some will be older than I am! No doubt, many will be Catholic, since it is a Catholic retreat center. My goal is simple. I want to set it up so that the folks who attend join me in a spiritual journey of seeking and finding.
I will use a number of resources to frame the seeking. I can imagine most people there have some sense of God. But I also assume that most of us, while we have some sense of who God is, are also open to the “more” that God always turns out to be. I know I am wary of anyone who tells me that they know who God is. I am not that sure. I am confident I know some things about God. I have some good hunches, but I also have clarity that I do not know everything! That is why I like to join with others to learn from their experiences and reflections.
I am preparing in order to expedite the exploration when the whole group assembles. One resource to which I have turned in order to explore the nature of God is the first little book Pope Francis wrote (with help) after becoming the Pope. The title of the book tells you everything: The Name of God is Mercy. It was published in 2016 representing the conversations with Andrea Tornielli. Tornielli is a veteran Vatican reporter, who writes for a number of Italian publications. Obviously, he has connections with the Pope in order to get this kind of access. Tornielli tells us the little book grew from conversations from Francis’ home, Saint Martha’s House in the Vatican.
The Pope was elected Bishop of Rome in 2013. On the first Sunday after his election, he spoke in the Church of St. Anna in the Vatican. Tornielli tells us he was in the audience that day. Speaking off the cuff, the Pope said, “The message of Jesus is mercy. For me, and I say this with humility, it is the Lord’s strongest message.” The Pope continued to comment on the passage from John’s Gospel about the woman who was accused of being an adulterer. You may recall that story in which Jesus tells the crowd that whoever was without sin could cast the first stone. Of course, no one threw a rock! And Jesus proceeds to forgive the woman---an act of mercy.
The Pope counsels that we should not be like the Pharisee. Francis says if we are, “we do not know the Lord’s heart, and we will never have the joy of feeling this mercy.” Pope Francis goes further than most of us would go when we read this passage from John’s Gospel or when we think about mercy. It is this “extra mile” that intrigues me about Francis and about the God Francis seems to know better than I do. I want to learn.
Francis describes the Jesus who forgave the adulterous woman. “Jesus forgives. But here there is something more than forgiveness. Because as a confessor, Jesus goes beyond the law.” Francis notes that the law would demand that she be punished. Let’s follow Francis in his further ruminations. “To ‘show mercy,’ Jesus goes beyond ‘the law that demanded stoning.’ And so he tells the woman to go in peace.’ ‘Mercy…is something difficult to understand: it does not erase sins.’ What erases sins ‘is God’s forgiveness.’ But mercy is the way in which God forgives.” In effect, Francis says that Jesus forgives and, even goes beyond that, to forgetting.
I want to share more from the little book as I work my way through it. But suffice it here in this inspirational piece to add only one more piece. Tornielli tells us about writing a draft of a section of the book, which he sent to Francis. Tornielli says, “in the first draft, I wrote that Francis asserted, ‘The medicine is there, the healing is there---if only we take a small step toward God.’ After reading the text, he called me and asked me to add, ‘or even just the desire to take that step.’ It was a phrase that I had clumsily left out of my summary. This addition, or rather, the proper restoration of the complete text, reveals the vast heart of the shepherd who seeks to align himself with the merciful heart of God and leaves nothing untried in reaching out to sinners.”
In this short exchange, I think one more little secret about the real nature of mercy is revealed. For the moment let’s explain mercy as God’s gift to us. And mercy can be our gift to each other. Mercy is often given when someone does something wrong or comes up short. Mercy compensates when we didn’t manage it on our own. Typically, mercy offers a second chance.
Mercy is hard enough to offer someone when the have blown it. Like the Pharisee, we want not only to hold the person accountable; we want to punish and use the law as our reason. But if we need mercy, we sincerely hope the law and our lack will be overlooked---or at least not held against us. I like how the Pope says “the medicine is there, the healing is there.” If we take a step toward God, mercy is ours for sure. But the Pope adds something important.
Sometimes we can’t yet take the step toward God. That’s ok, says the Pope; can you “desire” to take the step? That can be enough for mercy, because God is mercy.
I will use a number of resources to frame the seeking. I can imagine most people there have some sense of God. But I also assume that most of us, while we have some sense of who God is, are also open to the “more” that God always turns out to be. I know I am wary of anyone who tells me that they know who God is. I am not that sure. I am confident I know some things about God. I have some good hunches, but I also have clarity that I do not know everything! That is why I like to join with others to learn from their experiences and reflections.
I am preparing in order to expedite the exploration when the whole group assembles. One resource to which I have turned in order to explore the nature of God is the first little book Pope Francis wrote (with help) after becoming the Pope. The title of the book tells you everything: The Name of God is Mercy. It was published in 2016 representing the conversations with Andrea Tornielli. Tornielli is a veteran Vatican reporter, who writes for a number of Italian publications. Obviously, he has connections with the Pope in order to get this kind of access. Tornielli tells us the little book grew from conversations from Francis’ home, Saint Martha’s House in the Vatican.
The Pope was elected Bishop of Rome in 2013. On the first Sunday after his election, he spoke in the Church of St. Anna in the Vatican. Tornielli tells us he was in the audience that day. Speaking off the cuff, the Pope said, “The message of Jesus is mercy. For me, and I say this with humility, it is the Lord’s strongest message.” The Pope continued to comment on the passage from John’s Gospel about the woman who was accused of being an adulterer. You may recall that story in which Jesus tells the crowd that whoever was without sin could cast the first stone. Of course, no one threw a rock! And Jesus proceeds to forgive the woman---an act of mercy.
The Pope counsels that we should not be like the Pharisee. Francis says if we are, “we do not know the Lord’s heart, and we will never have the joy of feeling this mercy.” Pope Francis goes further than most of us would go when we read this passage from John’s Gospel or when we think about mercy. It is this “extra mile” that intrigues me about Francis and about the God Francis seems to know better than I do. I want to learn.
Francis describes the Jesus who forgave the adulterous woman. “Jesus forgives. But here there is something more than forgiveness. Because as a confessor, Jesus goes beyond the law.” Francis notes that the law would demand that she be punished. Let’s follow Francis in his further ruminations. “To ‘show mercy,’ Jesus goes beyond ‘the law that demanded stoning.’ And so he tells the woman to go in peace.’ ‘Mercy…is something difficult to understand: it does not erase sins.’ What erases sins ‘is God’s forgiveness.’ But mercy is the way in which God forgives.” In effect, Francis says that Jesus forgives and, even goes beyond that, to forgetting.
I want to share more from the little book as I work my way through it. But suffice it here in this inspirational piece to add only one more piece. Tornielli tells us about writing a draft of a section of the book, which he sent to Francis. Tornielli says, “in the first draft, I wrote that Francis asserted, ‘The medicine is there, the healing is there---if only we take a small step toward God.’ After reading the text, he called me and asked me to add, ‘or even just the desire to take that step.’ It was a phrase that I had clumsily left out of my summary. This addition, or rather, the proper restoration of the complete text, reveals the vast heart of the shepherd who seeks to align himself with the merciful heart of God and leaves nothing untried in reaching out to sinners.”
In this short exchange, I think one more little secret about the real nature of mercy is revealed. For the moment let’s explain mercy as God’s gift to us. And mercy can be our gift to each other. Mercy is often given when someone does something wrong or comes up short. Mercy compensates when we didn’t manage it on our own. Typically, mercy offers a second chance.
Mercy is hard enough to offer someone when the have blown it. Like the Pharisee, we want not only to hold the person accountable; we want to punish and use the law as our reason. But if we need mercy, we sincerely hope the law and our lack will be overlooked---or at least not held against us. I like how the Pope says “the medicine is there, the healing is there.” If we take a step toward God, mercy is ours for sure. But the Pope adds something important.
Sometimes we can’t yet take the step toward God. That’s ok, says the Pope; can you “desire” to take the step? That can be enough for mercy, because God is mercy.
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