St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

What  a  Glorious  Easter  we  celebrated last week, many thanks to all who contributed to make the celebration  so  meaningful.  Special thanks to our music director, Kevin  MacFarland  and  the  choir for the beautiful music as well as the Readers,  the  Extraordinary Ministers  of  Holy  Communion, Altar Servers and those assisting in decorating the Church and hall for the sacred Triduum.

 

I would like to share the following from Msgr. Charles Pope.

 

 

"We live in times in which mercy, like so many other things, has  become  a  detached  concept  in  people’s  minds,  separated from the things that really help us to understand it. For indeed, mercy makes sense and is necessary because we are sinners in desperate shape. Yet many today think it unkind and unmerciful to speak of sin as sin. Many think that mercy is a declaration that God doesn’t really care about sin, or that sin is not a relevant concept.

 

On the contrary, mercy means that sin does exist. Thanks be to God for the glory, the beauty, and the gift of His mercy! Without it, we don’t stand a chance. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly going to need boatloads of grace and mercy to make it. Only  through  grace  and  mercy  can  we  be  freed  from  sin  and healed  from  its  effects,  or  ever  hope  to  enter  the  presence  of God’s glory in Heaven, of which Scripture says, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false (Rev 21:27). Somebody says, 'Lord, have mercy!'

 

Mercy does not mean there is no judgment; mercy exists because there is a day of judgment. Mercy does not mean there is no Hell; mercy exists because Hell does. Somebody says, “Lord, have  mercy!”  Without  mercy  we  are  lost.  With  it  we  stand  a chance, but only if we accept our need for it. Mercy, Lord, have mercy!   Oh, thanks be to God for mercy! So, let’s consider the glory and the gift of mercy on this Sunday of divine mercy. The Gospel for today’s Mass speaks both to the need for mercy and the glory of it.

 

The  Prelude  to  Mercy – There  is an  old  saying  that  if  you don’t know the bad news, the good news is no news. And thus, as this Gospel opens we enter a room where ten Apostles are gathered in fear; the doors are locked. These are broken, troubled, and disturbed men. All of them but John had fled, deserting the Lord. One of them had denied even knowing Jesus, not once but three times. Here they are, humiliated, downcast, and sinfully without faith. Never mind that Jesus had told them on numerous occasions  that  He  would  rise  on  the  third  day.  Even  though  several women and two disciples from Emmaus had said they had seen Him alive, on this the third day, these men persist in sinfully rejecting this news that conformed to His promise. Yes, we enter a locked  room  of  fearful  men  who  are  downcast,  disgraced,  and disbelieving.

 

But it is here that we find the prelude to mercy! They are about  to  be blessed  and  to  experience  profound  mercy.  But  don’t miss this prelude. Again, if you don’t know the bad news, the good news is no news; so, don’t miss this picture.

 

One of the great errors of our day is the proclamation of mercy without repentance, without reference to our sinful condition. So many pulpits have gone silent on sin! And therefore, are silent on the true glory of mercy and the astonishing gift that it is! Ah, mercy! Divine mercy! Perfect mercy!

 

But the point of mercy is not to go out and tell others how terrible they are, but rather to tell them about the forgiveness of sin!  Now  this  is  why  we  need  a mercy  Sunday.  On  the  one  hand we’re living in rebellious times, times in which many are dismissive of sin and have refashioned God into just a nice fellow who doesn’t really care all that much about sin (despite what His own scriptures say to the contrary), reducing mercy is to mere kindness and a sort of blindness on God’s part.

 

On  the  other  hand,  these  are  also  times  when  many  are scared and angry with God, rejecting His judgments and glorious moral vision. A lot of people know that their lives are in disorder: their  families  are  broken;  they  are  confused;  greed,  materialism, lust, and other sinful drives are taking a heavy toll. Many are angry with the Church because deep down they know we are right; they don’t  like  being  reminded  that  people  don’t  have  any  business calling good what God calls sinful. But most of all, many are confused and angry because they don’t know forgiveness. Consider what Psalm 32 says so beautifully:

 

 

You see, the key to having this blessed state is the acknowledgement of sin.

 

The Lord said to St. Faustina,

 

You see what you are of yourself, but do not be frightened at this. If I were to reveal to you the whole misery that you are, you would die of terror. ... But because you are such great misery, I have revealed to you the whole ocean of my mercy (Diary II. 718).

 

Now some reading this sort of text think, 'There goes that Catholic guilt thing again.' But let’s be honest,  it’s not really an exaggeration. The truth is that most of us can be thinned-skinned, egotistical,  unforgiving,  unloving, unkind, mean-spirited, selfish, greedy, lustful, jealous, envious, bitter, ungrateful, smug, superior, vengeful, angry, aggressive, unspiritual, un-prayerful, stingy, and just plain mean. And even if all the things on the list don’t apply to you, many of them do. In addition, even that long list is incomplete. We are sinners with a capital ‘S’ and we need serious help.

 

And thus, just as Psalm 32 says, the glory of mercy is unlocked by the acknowledgment of sin. Jesus said  further to St. Faustina,

 

My love and my mercy [for you] know no bounds! ... The graces I grant are not for you alone, but for a great number of other souls as well. ... The greater the sinner the greater the right he has to my mercy. (Diary II.723).

 

Do not forget this necessary prelude to mercy: the acknowledgement of our sin. If you don’t know the bad  news, the good news is no news.

 

God’s perfect mercy: divine, healing, calling, converting, and soul-saving. Mercy, yes, perfect mercy.