Page 6 - Catholic Extension Magazine - Spring 2016

6 Heard Around the Church
Avoiding the ditches
What’s most important is to be in awe of God’s lav- ish mercy upon us. If I
am gratefully and hum-
bly aware that God is ever merciful to me, a sinner, I’m more likely to be merciful to others.
The rst big obstacle to God’s mercy on our part
is when we conclude our sins are so ugly, so nause- ating, so wretched, that we can never receive God’s mercy. ... I can never be for- given. ...
The second towering obstacle to God’s mercy is, I’m afraid, much more common today: Most of us feel we do not need God’s mercy! I’m OK, you’re OK! Those other poor slobs may be sinners, ... but I’m not. Mercy is a great idea for those unsophisticated, superstitious, unenlight- ened, guilt-ridden folks. But none for me, thanks. I have no sins. ...
Let’s accept the invita- tion of ... Pope Francis, and walk that road to salvation, avoiding the two ditches ... on either side!
—Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Catholic New York, Dec. 10
The face of Christ
One cannot understand a true Christian who is not merciful, just as one cannot comprehend God without His mercy.
‘Without mercy, our hearts beat wrong’
e JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY, which began December 8 and lasts through November 20, has captured the imagination of the Church around the world. Here are some re ections on mercy from American bishops and Pope Francis.
PHOTO TROY R. BENNETT | BANGOR DAILY NEWS Bishop Robert Deeley of Portland, Maine, blesses prisoner Anthony Hayman at the Maine Correctional
Facility in Windham on Christmas Eve. One of the corporal works of mercy is “visiting the imprisoned,” and in his homily Bishop Deeley told the inmates that “Jesus is the human face of God’s mercy” and that “mercy is what God wants us to share with one another.”
This is the word summa- rizing the essence of the Gospel: mercy. It is the fun- damental feature of the face of Christ — that face that we recognize in the various aspects of His existence — when He goes to meet all, when He heals the sick, when He sits at the table with sinners, and above all when, nailed to the cross, He forgives; there we see the face of divine mercy.
Let us not be afraid: Let us allow ourselves to be embraced by the mercy of God who awaits us and for- gives all. Nothing is sweeter than His mercy. Let us allow ourselves to be caressed by
God: The Lord is so good, and He forgives all.
—Pope Francis, Angelus, Dec. 8
Heart health
Misericordia literally means to have pity in one’s heart. Mercy is not just an a itude or an occasional sentiment. Rather, it is a strength or vir- tue that shapes and enliv- ens one’s heart.
Without mercy, our hearts beat wrong; without mercy, we su er from heart disease.
—Archbishop Blase Cupich, Catholic New World, Dec. 13
The world must discover that God is a father, that there’s mercy, that cruelty isn’t the way. ...
I continue to say that today the revolution [needed] is that of tender- ness, because justice and all the rest come from it. We have to cultivate the revolution of tenderness today as a fruit of this Year of Mercy, the tenderness of God toward each one of us.
—Pope Francis, Interview with Credere, Dec. 2
A revolution of tenderness