THE IN . HIS Michael Sopocko, S.T.D. .. _,,,.l
CONTENTS 1, What do we think of God? - 1.. What do we think of the Divine Perfections? - 3. What do we think of the Mexcy of God? 4. Why do we single out the Mercy of God? 5 • Is the Mercy of God manifold? 6. The Mercy of Divine Sonship 7· Mercy in the Manner and Conditions of our Adoption as Sons 8. Mercy in the Promise of Redemption 9. God's Mercy in the Mystery of the Incarnation The Mercy of God in the Manner of the Incarnation The Mercy of God in the Incarnation - 10, l I. x 1.. The Mercy of God in the Effects of the Incarnation 1 3. The Mercy of God in the Visitation 14. The Mercy of God in the Buth of our Lord - 15. The Mercy of God in the name Jesus and in the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple 16. The Mercy of God in the Epiphany to the Wise Men 17. The Mercy of God in our Lord's Hidden Life - 18. The Mercy of God in the Baptism and Fasting of our Lord 19. The Mercy of God in the Calling of the First Disciples - The Merciful Confirming of the First Disciples in the Faith The Merciful Talk with Nicodemus 2.0, 1.1. 2.2.. 37• 38. 39· The Love of God and His Mercy - The Merciful Conversation with the Woman of Samaria - The Merciful Return to Galilee The DI.vine Mercy in the Teaching of the Saviour - The Mercy of God in the Parables of Christ - Mercy in the Choice of the Apostles Teaching on the Principles of Justice and Mercy The Mercy of Christ towards Sinners - - The Mercy of Christ towards the Sick - The Mercy of Christ towards Lepers The Mercy of Christ towards the Blind - The Mercy of Christ towards the Deaf and Dumb - The Mercy of Christ towards the Possessed - The Mercy of Christ in Raising the Dead The Mercy of Christ in •His Rule over the Elements and Matter - _,,. The Mercy of Christ in the Renewal of the Family - The Mercy of Christ in the Evangelical Counsels The Mercy of Christ in our Foremost Deeds - vii Page I 4 8 1-.Z 16 19 1.3 1.7 31 35 39 43 47 51
40. The Mercy of Christ in the Cardinal Virtues - - x 5 x 4 I. The Mercy of Christ in the Apostolic Virtues - - 154 42. The Mercy of Christ in the ~ng and Sending Forth of tho Dlsciplcs - ._ - - - - - q8 43. The Mercy of Christ ln the G,reatest Commandment - 162 44, The Mercy of Christ towards His'Enemies - 166 45. • The Mercy of Christ towards the Workers - 169 46. The Mercy of Christ towards His Friends - - - 173 4 7. The Mercy of Christ in His Teaching on the Mercy of God 1 77 48. The Mercy of Christ in the Foretelling of the Blessed Sacrament - I 80 49. The Mercy of Christ in Foretelling the Primacy of Peter 1 84 5 o. T.}le Mercy of Christ in the Call to Repentance - 188 51, The Mercy of Christ in the Revelation of His Divinity - 192 5 2, The Mercy of Christ in the Foretelling of the Last Judgment - - 196 H• The Mercy of Christ in the Foretelling of His Passion - 199 5 4. The Mercy of Christ in Promising the Descent of the Holy Ghost - - 20; 5 5. The Mercy of Christ in Establishing the Eucharist - - 207 5 6. The Mercy of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Orders - 2 1 x n, ' The Mercy of Oirist in Freeing us from Death - u4 5 B. The Mercy of Christ in ~e Treasury of Merits - 21 8 59. The Mercy of Christ in His ~er of Teaching and Behaving - - - - - - - - 2u 60. The Mercy of Christ in His Outward Satisfaction for Sin u5 61, The Meaning of our Lotd's ,Passion the Proof of the Divinity a.nd Mercy of Jesus - u9 ... viii
1. WHAT DO WE THINK OF GOD? •" I am who am" (Exodus 3 : 14). In every language known to human speech, the word most often met with is " God 11 • It is, as the research of scholars has established, one of the oldest, the most basic and the most universal of all terms used by men to stand for some reality. What reality, then, in our minds corresponds to the word "God 11 ? In other words, what do we think of God? Men's thoughts of God are vague and ill-defined, for "no man hath seen God at any time" (John r : 18). Here on earth we can never form a true concept of Him; as the Apostle writes, " We see now through a glass in a dark manner . . . Now I know in part'' (I Cor. I 3 : 1 z) : that is to say, we know God only through the reflection of His glory seen in the mirror of created things. But created things are infinitely inferior to God Himself: hence we can never know Him as He is in Himself. If we had never seen the sun, and had formed our only idea of it from such light as there is on a dull day, we should never have a true picture of the source of daylight. Or, if we had never seen white light, but knew light only through the seven colours of the rainbow, we should never know what whiteness was. In the same way, we cannot form an adequate concept of the Being of God : the most we can do is to see something of His perfections, revealed to us as they are, in created things, in a state of multiplicity and diffusion, whereas in God they exist in absolute unity. God, as most perfect Being, is pure and simple Spirit, made up of no parts. In man's nature we distinguish body and soul, and, in body and soul, separate powers, spiritual [reason and will], and bodily [senses and passions]. But God is perfect Unity, without any parts in His nature. It is hard for us to understand this perfect Unity in God, and in our human fashion we ascribe to Him the perfections that we see in created things. Thus, in people, we see certain gifts -in some, for instance, I
considerable keenness and penetration, which give their minds a wide horizon and· the pow~r of quiclc.:~scerhment. This we call wisdom, and it exists among people iri varying degrees. As all human wisdom comes from God, we conclude that God has it in the highest degree of all, and speak of the omniscience of God as one of His perfections. The same holds true of justice, sanctity, providence, patience, love, mercy, and other perfections. We make these distinctions between the perfections of God because our minds are too·feeble to grasp His whole perfection as one single concept and have painfully to grop their way from created things to the knowledge of the Creator. But in reality, everything in God forms one perfect Unity, whose perfections are not distinct either from God's nature, or from one another. These perfections, however, are not merely different names for one and the same supreme reality, as the nominalists maintained~ if they were, God would be simply unknowable. They are all really in God, but in Him they are not distinct from one another: only in creatures existing outside God are they distinct. All His perfections are identical with the nature of God, yet do not destroy each other. We can, as does the Bible, name them one after the other, but adding also that they all blend and merge in the supreme simplicity, the infinite Unity of the Godhead, the Deity. Although we cannot, on this earth, know the Essence of God as He is in Himself, we can know His perfections and through them, though incompletely, we can know and define what constitutes His Essence. The question then arises whether, among these perfections which we ascribe to God, there is one which may be considered the chief, the source ofall the others-and, at the same time, the perfection which sets God apart from all beings existing outside Himself. Is there, for instance, in God some perfection corresponding to the distinctive characteristic of reason in man? Descartes, and many after him, declared that in God this perfection is freedom, and that it is freedom which in fact constitutes the Essence of God. They hold that God is, above all, free,...will: if He so desired, He could make square circles, produce results without causes, create mountains without valleys, and so on. But will without mind is inconceivable : it would then operate without any law. Any such notion merely ·dishonours the supreme Being. Knowledge of the truth always precedes the love of it. This assertion, therefore, cannot be accepted. • • .2.
In the light of this, should we perhaps see Mind as the Essence of God? Many philosophers have -~oµght •s'o, conceiving God as a pure, eternally existent light of M.ind, containing infinite truth within itself. The mind certainly comes before the will, but is it absolutely the first perfection in God? Such a concept of the Essence of God is indeed lofty, but not the highest of all, for it is not in complete agreement with what God has told us about Himself. We read in the Bible that God appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush, and commanded him to lead the:: Israelites out of Egypt. "Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me : What is His name? what shall I say to them? God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel : HE WHO IS hath sent me to you " (Exodus 3 : 13-14). "He who is "-in Hebrew" Jahweh 11 , which later on was deformed into" Jehovah". "This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations 11 (Exodus 3 : 15). We find the same in the New Testament: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Apoc. 1 : 8). God, then, is not just pure spirit, like the angels, but selfexistent Being-Being who has within Himself the reason for His own existence. He is not restricted to a certain mode of being, as is the case with creatures ; He is Himself Being, and contains within Himself all that makes up the essence of being. Selfexistence, then, is the perfection which constitutes the Essence of God-the perfection which sets God apart from all other peings, from all creatures both spiritual and material. God's Essence alone is Existence itself, and it alone necessarily exists. No creature exists of its own right, of itself: none can say of itself, " I am who am 11 , but rather, " I am who am not, for there was a time when I was not, and even now there is in me no sufficient cause of my being, and therefore I can cease to exist". Self-existence, then, is the first determining cause, the first attribute of necessary Being, which establishes order in the universe and stands at the summit of all creation. From this supreme sum,tnit we can deduce all the, other perfections of God, just as in man, all other attributes,,derive from his gift of reason. Being Itself, existing of its own Essence, in Itself, must be absolutely one and simple; must be Truth itself, 3
a Truth always known; and Good itself, a Good always loved and loving. It must, because of its immateriality, be Thought hself, Thought eternally existing in itself: Wisdom itself, Will and Love:, And thus the highest of all the names of God is this: "He who is" (S.T. I: q. 13, a. n)., Yet God as He is in Himself is still a profound mystery to usa mystery which the mystics have called " darkness full of light," and the Bible, "light inaccessible " (x Tim. 6: 16). Only . imperfectly, through revelation, have we come to know that summit of Being existing in Itself-Self-Existence- from which we can deduce all the other divine perfections which flow and merge into one in the inner life of God. And in heaven alone shall we learn how these perfections, intermingling, do not destroy one another. * * * * * Although we cannot know God as He is in f;Iis Essence, we have yet been given part in Him by sanctifying grace. This grace :fits us to sec Him one day as He sees Himself. Great is the value of sanctifying grace, which even in this life makes lt possible for us to share in the life of God I " The least degree of sanctifying grace, ln a baptised child, is of more value than the whole universe, than all created beings, spiritual and nuterial, put together" (S.T., 1-2., q.113, a.9). This grace we have received freely, solely through the Mercy of God which makes it possible for us to ponder the Essence of God, 2, WHAT DO WE TIIlNK OF THE DIVINE PERFECITONS ? ' • " For to know thee iJ perje(t juJtke [Jat1(tiry] " (Wisdom 1 ~ : 3). li• t ,i > We luvc aJ.rea,dy s:en thit we cirinot know God_directly, but only through those perfections wliich, in some degree, we find in created things. Self-existence alone is lacking to them, for this belongs only to God, and is indeed His Essence, What other perfections can be ascribed to the Essence of God? Theologians mco~on four other main, essential divine perfections : simplicity,. or ).ack of parts ; infinity; eternity ; un.changcableoess. These perfections they call absolute, to distinguish them from those 4
which appear in God's relation to created things, and which are accordingly known as relative perfections.1 I. What is divine simplicity? Divine simplicity or unity is the lack of all component parts, of all clivision, as well in being as in thinking and desiring. Above all, there are in God no quantitative parts, as there are in matter, for God is pure Spirit. An angel too is spirit, but an angel is made up of essence and limited existence, which it 'has not of itself. But God, as we have already seen, is purest Being, who exists in Himself, of His own Essence. In an angel, thought and desire are successive, occurring one after the other. In God there is no succession, but always one thought and one •Will, embracing all truth ao.d all good in one act. The simplicity of God is not, however, the simplicity of a point in space : it is spiritual simplicity, .infinitely above space and a point as the infinity of God is .infinitely above the infinity of space. God is infinite, not with the infinity of number, but with the infinity of perfection. If God exists of Himself, He is not only outside all bounds of matter and space, but all limitation of being. He is at once the infinity of being, of pure mind, wisdom, goodness, mercy, and so on, for infinity is the mode of being of all the divine attributes (S.T., I, q.7 i 45). Being infinite, God is a:lso boundless and omnipresent. God is boundless, but not in the sense of a limitless space. God infinitely surpasses space, even limitless space, just as the eternity of God infinitely surpasses time, even endless time. God is everywhere by His powet, to which all things are subject, and by which all bcing moves. God is everywhere by His knowledge, for all things Uc open to His gaze. And, finally, God is everywhere by His Essence, and holds all existence in being by a ceaseless act of conservation. God is a spiritual force, which keeps all things in existence. ' • ' ' • God is, however, pr1~ent in an especial manner :in souls in a state of grace. In µiem He lives as in a tetnple, and may be known and loved almost a$ though He were visible1 But the Eternal Word is 1present in a 0 still.more special manner in the humanity of Christ, ~ith which He unites 1n one Person. And, rdlecti.ng the boundlessness of God, is the Vicar of Christ, who is present throughout the Church by his power, that he may lead all men to 1 The ru.me "relative pcrl'ection" docs not mean here any incompleteness of such a perfection. We should not, therefore, understand it u perfect under one aspect, but somewhat deficient ln pcrl'cction under another upcct. It simply denot.es tnose Divine perfections that manifest themselves 1n God's n/11/ion to creatures. s
everlasting happiness. And just as God's boundlessness unites with His eternity, so, in the Church, the rule of the Chief Shepherd extends over all the faithful~. in space,-'and \in time, from the foundation of the Chw:ch to the end of ·the world'. The eternity of God is a duration without beginning or end, and has this distinctive mark, that in Him there is no succession, no past or future, but only one eternal Now (S.T. I, q, ro), It is the uniformity of unchanging life, with no beginning or end, and possessing itself, whole and entire, at once (Boethius). We do not possess our whole life at once, any more than we possess a year or month at once, but gradually, bit by bit. But the Mind of God takes in at one glance all ages, all succeeding generations. God, on the heights of eternity, is wichanging, but everything beneath Him changes. Without any shadow of alteration Himself, He calls lives into being in time ; from all eternity, He pronounced His free "Fiats", to be fulfilled in the course of time. The unchangeability of God comes from His lack of parts, and the fulness of His perfection. " I am the Lord, and I change not " (Mal. ; : 6). "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed" (Numbers 13 : 19). "All of them shall grow old like a garment, and as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed'. But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail" (Psalms IOI : 17 - 18). II. It is impossible to sound the depths of all the perfections found in the Being of God: they are many, and far surpass our knowledge. God, to us, is invisible and incomprehensible ; He "inhabiteth light inaccessible" (I Tim. 6 : 16), which to us is like darkness. Even the angels cannot see God with the natural resources of their minds ; how much less can people, who know His perfections only t1:'irough their reflection in creation? We see only the colours of the Divine rainbow ; we do not know the fusion of all these colours in the inner life of the Most High Being. In the mirror of created things, we see the reflection of the Divine relative perfections-those manifested in His relation t,p creatures. They too are many, but they can be summarized in a few principal ones. Theologians name five chief relative perfections in God: wisdom, goodness, providence, justice and mercy. All other relative perfections are included in these: e.g. omnipotence, in wisdom ; God as the Last End of everything, in providence ; patience and love, in mercy, and so on. 6
The Fathers of the Vatican Council, in urging us to seek the Creator in created things, emphasize how important it is to get to know the relative perfecti9.rjs, of whlc~;-pi~.Bible speaks so often, and which our Lord had in·mind when·He said," Be ye perfect, as you.r Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5 : 48). Among all these perfections Our Lord singles out one as the fountainhead •from which flows all that comes to us in life, and in which God desires to be praised for all eternity. This perfection is the Mercy of God. " Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6 : ;6). The fact of God, then, is becoming a little clearer to us, if one may so express it. As, in our minds, there are wisdom and prudence, and, in our wills, love, justice and other virtues, so, in God's mind, we see, through analogy, wisdom and providence, and in His will, goodness, justice and Mercy. These are, as it were, the virtues [virt11te.r] in God, though with this difference: in us men, they are directed to God, whereas in God, having no higher being as their end, they are directed only to creatures, and are therefore classified as the relative perfections, that is, manifested in His relation to creatures. It is easier for us to know the relative perfections of God than to know those absolute, although even here we come up against what, to our limited minds, seems veiled in mist. To a nocturnal bird, the sunrise seems like dusk, for its weak eyes can only see in twilight, and are dazzled by the brilliance of the sun; in just the same way, our feeble minds can only see divine truth in the mirror of created things, as in a half-light. These truths are therefore called mysteries, and it is only with the help of revelation that we come to know them somewhat better. There are, then, in God, clearly defined truths about each of His attributes or perfections in particular, but a certain obscurity arises when we try to see how they are united within Him. We know, for instance, that God, being infinitely good and powerful, permits evil only for the sake of a greater good, but very often this greater good is hidden from us by a mist. We do not see it on earth. Only in the next world will it shine on us in its full glory. Often we do not understand why we meet with difficulties and persecutions from those around us ; we shall see the reason for them only in heaven. * * * * * 7
"He that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8 : 12). Grace gives light, comfort and peace. It is through grace that we are no longer living in the shadow of death. But this grace comes to us from heights inaccessible to human reason, an"rl we can never have the absolute certainty that we possess it, although there may be enough marks of its presence to authorise us to approach the altar. It is trust in the Mercy of God that saves me and enables me to press forward as I should amidst interior lights and shadows. 3. WHAT DO WE TIIlNK OF THE MERCY OF GOD? " Be ye therefore merci/11/, a.r your Father al.ro i.r merd/11I" (Luke 6 : 36). Among all the perfections of God, Our Lord singles out Mercy, bidding us to imitate it, and also learn what it is, for one cannot imitate what one does not know. Let us see, then, what the Mercy of God is. I. The word " Mercy" can be understood in two ways.:._as an emotion or passion [pauio], and as a moral virtue. Mercy as an emotion is a compassionate sadness over the suffering of another. In this sense, we find Mercy both in men and in animals. It is to be seen, for instance, in a dog whimpering over hs sick or injured master; or in a bird, rescuing a fledgeling caught in a snare-and so on. Mercy as a moral virtue is the rational sympathy with one's neighbour i.r;i nusfortune, combined with an active desire to help him. Such Mercy is to be found only in men, who guide themselves by their reason in free acts, and do what they can to remove the cause of another's suffering, as if it were their own. In animals, Mercy springs purely from instinct, and is confined to those nearest to them. In men, on the other hand, it derives from the love of neighbour, and is the outward manifestation of this love, showing itself in deeds of Mercy to his soul and body. A man :who sympathises with his neighbour will think out ways of helping him:, will try' to bring him comfort and aid ; and he will do so, not only for his family and friends, but for strangerseven for enemies. The Good Samaritan in the Gospel parable, when he saw the wounded Jew who had fallen ·among thieves, 8
r bound up his wounds, took him to the inn, and paid for him to be looked after until he recovered. The Mercy of God is neither an emotion nor a virtue. In the first place God, being pure Spirit, is not subject to emot;ion. Nor may we identify God's Mercy with the virtue of mercy in men. In the virtue of mercy, there is an element of compassionate sadness in the sufferings of one's neighbour. But God, as perfect Being, cannot feel sadness : He is always wholly happy in Himself, wholly sufficient to Himself. He was happy before the creation of the world, and nothing was lacking to this happiness. It would be absurd to imagine that, since the creation, He has become less happy, through sympathy with the sufferings of created beings. The Mercy of God is the perfection of His activity, stooping over all beings that lie beneath Him, to raise them from their misery and to supply what they lack : it is His Will of ddin'g good to all in need, who cannot themselves meet those needs. A single act of mercy is pity, but the unchanging state of pity is mercy. As, in God, act is one with existence, the Bible identifies His Mercy and His pity (S.T. I, q.u, a.;). "And thou, 0 Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true " (Ps. 8 5 : I 5 ). . " The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy" (Ps. 102 : 8). God's relation to created things is shown in His supplying their needs·and distributing among them greater and lesser perfections. This bestowal of perfections, considered in itself, quite irrespective of circumstance, is an act of God's goodness, which gives to each as He wills. What we see of the total disinterestedness of God in thus scattering His gifts, we attribute to His liberality. The watchful care ofGod that, with the help of all the good things He has given us, we should reach our goal, we call His providence. The bestowal of perfections, in accordance with a prearranged plan and order, is a work of justice. And finally, the bestowal of perfections on His creatures to save them from their wretchedness and to supply their wants, is the work of Mercy. A creature's lack does 1:1ot always cause it to suffer, for to each belongs only that which God has ordained and decreed for it. It is·no misfortune for a sheep, for instance, to have no reason; nor is it a disaster for a man to· have no wings. But the fack of reason in ·man, or wings in a bird, would be a terrible misfortune. Whatever God does for created things, He does in accordance with· a· carefully devised· and established order, determined by B 9
divine justice. But as this order was freely assumed and was not imposed upon God by anyone, the fact that one order and not another was e~tabli;~,h~.d~f~ows us ~ .~~~kably that it is the work also of Mercy. So, when we come fo penetrate the first causes, the motives, of God's activity, we see Mercy as the mainspring of every outward act. For if anything is due to a creature, it 1s only on the grounds of some previous decision. But as we cannot retreat like this into infinity, we must pause here, at what depends solely on the will of God, or the Mercy of God. II.-In each act of God, we can see, according to how we look at it, the perfections of God mentioned above. The preservation of Moses, for instance, hidden in his basket on the waters of the Nile, may be seen, when stripped of all its.circumstances, as due to the goodness of God. But if we consider the disinterestedness shown by God in this preservation, which to Him was not necessary, and which the infant himself had done nothing to merit-we see it as the work of God's liberality. Again, when we reflect that God ha~ resolved, through Moses, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, we may look upon this preservation as an act of God's justice. The watchful care over the child thus left exposed to so many dangers by the river, we attribute to the providence of God. And, finally, the rescue of the child from suffering, abandonment and want; the showering on him of gifts-good conditions for life, growth, upbringing, education-all this was the work of the Mercy of God. And as, at every turn in the example just quoted, we are struck by the child's helplessness and many needs, we may say that the goodness of God is Mercy, which creates and gives; the liberality of God-is Mercy, which pours out gifts in abundance, without looking to any merit ; the providence of God- is Mercy, which watches over us ; the jµstice of God-is Mercy, which rewards us above our deserts, and punishes us less than our sins merit; and lastly, that the love of. God-is Mercy, which takes pity on human misery and draws us to Himself. In other words, the Mercy of God is the mainspring of God's external activity: the source of each act of the Creator. In every B,ook of the Old and New Testaments, the Mercy of God is mentioned repeatedly, but most often, and most eloquently, in the Book of Psalms. In the total number of I 50 Psa~ms there are s s Psalms especially praising this di".'ine perfection, and in Psalm 13 s each verse repeats as its refrain, "for his mercy IO
enduretb for ever". In the Bible as a whole there are over four hundred passages in which the Mercy of God is given direct praise ; in the Book of Psalms, there are a hundred and thirty ; and in innumerable other texts His Mercy is hymned indirectly. The Psalmist, in speaking of God's Mercy, is not content with the word "merciful", but adds a whole row of synonyms, as though anxious to strengthen our conviction of the boundless Mercy of God. " He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord 11 (Ps. 110 : 4). "To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness ; he ls merciful and compassionate and just 11 (Ps. 111 : 4). "The Lord is gracious and merciful : patient and plenteous in mercy. The Lord is sweet to all': and his tender mercies are over all his works" (Ps. 144 : 8-9). The Psalmist often assures us, in different words and using different comparisons, of the ever-present Mercy of God, which embraces all His works: "He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord" (Ps. p. : 5). "The earth, 0 Lord, fa full of thy mercy : teach me thy justifications " (Ps. I 18 : 64). Elsewhere he teaches us that the 1forcy of God watches especially over those who P,Ut their trust in Him : " Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear him : and on them that hope in his mercy" (Ps. 32- : 18), God's Mercy at times does not wait for us to turn to it, but '' prevents us "(Ps. 5 8 : II) ; " Thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life" (Ps. 2.2 : 6). And finally it ls eternal : " Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens " (Ps. 88 : ;). * * * * * Can anyone fail to be struck by the number of times the Bible speaks of God's Mercy? Does one not wonder why the inspired writer should do so? We see here God's desire to give men His Mercy, to awaken their trust. God wants to teach us something of His inner life, His relation. to created things, and especially to people. God desires to be praised by us 1n His Mercy, that we may imitate Him in our acts. He is always unalterably merciful, for He is unchanging, but in ·ts mercy may grow and ~ecrease with tqe ebb and flow of love. It may even vanish altogether. We should, therefore, always be mindful of the Mercy of God. u
4. WHY DO WE SINGLE OUT THE MERCY OF GOD ? ''All the wayJ of the Lord are merry and tr11th" (Ps. 24 : 10). Of all the perfections of God, the Bible most often speaks of Hi's Mercy. And the Psalmist, in a great outpouring of praise to God for this perfection, places it above all His works : " His tender mercies are over all his works " (Ps. 144 : 9). This distinction made. by the Bible may lead to certain difficulties in our l.lllderstanding of the divine perfections. Let us, therefore, consider it a little. I.- In God's relation to created things, His many perfections are made manifest-such as His goodness, His wisdom, His liberality, His providence, His justice- but'among them all, His Mercy is pre-eminent. The inspired writer sees this perfection as extending over all the works of God. In particular, he attributes to it : the work of creation: " Who established the earth above the waters : for his mercy endureth for ever 11 (Ps. t 3 5 : 6) ; the work of Redemption : " [Who] redeemed us from our enemies 11 (Ps. I 3 5 : 24) ; the work of providence : " Who giveth food to all flesh : for his mercy endureth for ever 11 (P's. 1 3 5 : z 5) ; and the work of our sanctification : " ... who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us into a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled 11 (I Peter I : 3-4). The Fathers of the Church devoted deep study to the truths of revelation and they saw in Mercy the main motive of God's activity. Thus, St. Augustine says : " I confess, 0 Lord, that Thou art merciful •in all Thine acts : therefore hast Thou said through Thy servant, 'His tender mercies arc· above all his· works 111 (Ps. 144: 9: Migne, P.L, 40 : 902); "Here, God is merciful; in the future life, He will be just 11 (P.L. 39: 1963); "His Mercy is not lacking to any of His works 11 (P.L. 44: 1839)':' St. John Chrysostom says the same : " Everything that God docs is born of ;His Mercy and His clemency" (P.L. 5 5 : 468). St. Peter Chrysologus acids: "All that God has made would perish, we·re it not for the Mercy of God" (P.L. 5 t : 319). And St. Berna.rd, explaining the-words of St. Paul, " Blessed be ... the Father of Mercies ", says: " God is not the Father of Judgmeat, 11
but only the Father of Mercy, and punishment comes from our own selves" (P.L. 183 : 786). The Angelic Doctor develops in a particularly profound and wonderful manner the revealed reaching on God's Mercy, which he singles out from all the other IC relative " perfections of God. Mercy, he says, when considered simply in itself; is the highest perfe~tion, for its fun~tion is to communicate itself to those below it by healing their miseries and supplying their wants ; a greater perfection is shown by him who gives than by him who takes. Such self-giving is the property of higher beings towards lower, and, in the highest degree of all, it is the property of God, in which His greater power is shown forth. . Mercy, consipered with regard to the person who shows it, is not always the highest perfection. This is so only when He who possesses It is Himself the highest Being, having no one above Him or equal to Him. For if there is somebody above oneself, one shows more perfection by uniting oneself to this higher being in love, than by fulfilling the needs of lower beings. Thus, in men the highest virtue is love, which is the essence of their perfection. But God has none above Him, to whom He could give Himself by love. His highest " relative " perfection, then, is Mercy (S.T. II-II : q. 301 a. 41 c), Strictly speaking, no perfection in God is higher than another, for there is no real distinction between His perfections. Each one of them constitutes the Essence of God-in other words, is God. But, according to our human understanding, Mercy, directed by eternal wisdom and strengthened by God's love towards Himself, shines forth beyond all other perfections which characterize His relations to created things. ·JI.-We know, as one of the main truths of our faith, that in God's government of the world, the chief place, alongside Mercy, belongs to Justice, The Bible usually speaks of Mercy together with Justice, calling it simply "Truth". "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth" (Ps. 14: 10). The Apostle James, in comparing these two perfections, gives Mercy the first place: " Mercy exalteth itself above judgment 11 (James 1 : t ;). We are here considering justice, not in its widest sense, meaning IC sanctity ", but in its more precise sense, namely a firm will to give each person \vhat is his due. Of the three known forms of justice _:_legal justice, 'commutative justice and distributive justice-it is only distrib~tive justice t~at we can attribute to God,· and that 13
in another sense from the_one in whicJ:l y,e usually speak of it. Distributive justi!=~ is~ ~fRrm will o{li.,1.19peri9~ to distribute common goods and burdens-among those under him, according to their rank and merits ; and to deal out rewards and punishments. But there is a vast difference between a superior among men, and God. God gives being to His creatures and destines them, of His own will, to their rightful end ; at the same time, without any compulsion, He gives them the means to achieve that end. In the same way, He has, quite freely, bound Himself by the promise of rewards and ·punishments to His rational creatures. God rewards us above our deserts, as the Apostle tells us : " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him " (I Cor. z : 9). And His punishments also fall short of our guilt. Moreover, in this life they are usually of a medicinal and curative nature : " But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world" (I Cor. lI : 3z). We see, then, that the justice of God is not the justice of men, and in this world is really Mercy, or at least always gives way to it. The primacy of Mercy over Justice is proved by St. Thomas as follows: Whatever (he says) God does for creatures, He docs in accordance with a righteous prearranged order, which has been established by justice. But since the order was assumed entirely freely, and was not imposed on God by anyone, we must, in the fact that this order and not anot,her was established, see also only the infinite Mercy of God, which always surpasses His· justice (S.T. I: q. 2.1, a. 4, c). " God is love" (I John 4 : 8), says the Bible, but the love of God in the strict sense is expressed in the relation of the Divine Persons to each other, as Joy in one another's perfections. When, however, we speak of the love of God for His creatures, and especially for mankind, we are thinking of His love for what is wretched-in other words, of the Mercy of God (S.T. II-IL: q, 30, a. 4). As theologians tell us : "Mercy considered in itself is the highest perfection ... proper to God, in whom it does not differ from disinterested love" (Melkerbach, O.P. S11mma Teologiae Morali.r, I, 9z 1). "Mercy is love in the face of misery" (Abbot Marmion, Chri.rt in Hi.r Mysteries, p. 4oz). And thus Pius XII in the Encyclical "Haurietis aquas" of I 5 May 1956, calls 14
the love of God for men a "merciful love", or the Divine Mercy (A.A.S. 56: 32.1). :- Of all His perfections, it was Mercy that God first showed to men, raising them to· the supernatural state, calling them His children by adoption ; promising them redemption when they had sinned, instead of punishing them as He punished the rebellious angels. The Holy Ghost, stooping to our human comprehension, reiterated this promise through the lips of prophets and patriarchs, and, even in the Old Testament, uttered profound teaching on the Mercy of God, telling us how lasting it is, how universal, what might and strength it has over all the earth. In an even higher degree, Mary praises the Mercy of God in the Magnificat, dwelling on its universality, its changelessness, its infinity : " And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him" (Luke 1 : ~o). The chosen Daughter of the Eternal Father, who experienced the greatest Mercy of all in her own person, saw it in spirit on the heights of praise of the cherubim and seraphim, as also in the depths of Purgatory, and she sang it in inspired words for all of us, but most of all, for those who fear Him with filial fear. She saw the greatest Mercy in the Redemption, in which she herself took an active part, and through which she became the Mother of Mercy : " He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy" (Luke 1 : 5 4), * * * * * This, then, is why we single out the Mercy of God from among all His other " relative " perfections : because He Himself singles it out in the Bible ; because the Fathers of the Church and theologians single it out, going so far as to call the Mercy of God the highest of His " relative " perfections ; and because the Immaculate Mother of Mercy praised and glorified it. Let us, too, faithful to· the intention of the inspired writer, and following above all the model of the Immaculate Virgin, keep the works of Divine Mercy constantly before our eyes, and submit in all humility to His will, which is Mercy itself, confident that all our crosses will at last turn to good in the hand of Him whose" ways are all Mercy and truth ".
5. IS THE MERCY OF GOD MANIFOLD 7 " The earth, 0 Lord, iJ full of. thy merry " (l;>s. 118 : 64). Although, as we have seen, all the works of God flow from the Divine Mercy, theologians group them in certain categories. Lessius (d. 16.13) mentions three chief works of the Divine Morey : the creation and preservation of the world, the raising of rational creatures to the supernatural state, and the redemption of ·mankind after the Fall of our first parents. I. The work of creation would seem rather to be the act of God's goodness. For, as the liquid in a full vessel tends to overflow, so the eternal goodness of God, in its perfect abundance, tends to give, to communicate itself; and it would seem as though this were the principal motive of creation. Moreover, Mercy shows itself in rescuing the wretched from their misery, and in supplying their needs-but before they had been called into being, created things could not ho in any 'misery or feel any needs, since they did not exist at all. Yet deeper consideration of the problem will lead us to the conclusion that even in creation the principal µiotive was the infinite Mercy of God. . In thefust pl.ace, the goodness of God is sufficiently shown in the eternal act of the begetting of God the Son by God the Fa~er, in the procession of the Holy Ghost from these two Divine Persons, and in the love between the three Divine Persons. The whole plenitude of goodness is here poured out, and the desire for selfgiving satisfied. Nor was there any kind of necessity to create the world. It was created by an entirely free act, without any compulsion. Where poverty and lack are concerned, they must be thought of in a more general sense, as the deprivation of every positive quality such as existence implies. The greatest lack, the most fearful pov~, from which every living being recoils, is that lack of existence, that nonentity, in which the whole world. visible and invisible, was plunged, before the Creator drew it thence. Men and beasts alike flee from such lack as this-more tettible to them than any other lack or suffering. Thus the rescue of the world from the misery of nothingness, the removal of that lack which is non-being, is indeed the work of Divine Mercy. This reasoning is borne out by the Bible, which also attributes 16
the work _of creation to the Mercy of God. Psalm 2.4 already speaks of it in general terms : " All the ways of the Lord arc mercy and truth" (10), and Psalm 13.5 draws out this truth in detail: "W}lo made the heavens in [his] understanding: for his mercy endurcth for ever. Who established the earth above the waters : for his mercy endureth for ever. Who made the great lights: for his mercy cndureth for ever. The sun to rule the day: for his mercy endureth for ever" (5-9). The meaning of these _words is quite clear ; they are a litapy of the Mercy of God. God created the visible world for mah ; man, therefore, owes his existence to the merciful God. Reflecting on this truth, the .Angelic Doctor attributes creation to the Divine Mercy in a wider sense, if we realise that things have been drawn out of non-being, into being (S.T. I, q.u, a.4, ad 4). God not only created the world out of His Mercy. It is chiefly by reason of His Mercy that He keeps it in existence, assigning its due end to every created thing, and giving it tlie means to achie".'e this end : " Who giveth food to all flesh : for his mercy endureth for ever " (Psalm 1; .5 : 2. .5 ). Each detail of the visible world shows the merciful ca.re of God ; each.creature repeats, with the inspired writer : " For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that thou has madt" (Wisdom, 1~: 2.5). God loves everything with that benevolent love of the higher for the lower, which, as we have seen,_the theologians identify with mercy. .Could we but enumerate all the marvels of the world, all the known, or as yet unknown, secrets of nature, we should see clearly the providential Mercy of God, whose eye, as the Bible tells us, ·watches ceaselessly over the world : " [It) reachcth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things S"fec'tly" ..(Wisdom 8 : x). ·, II. The second work of Divine Mercy is the raising of ra,tiooal creatures to the supernatural state. God has united two worlds in man-the visible and the invisible, the material and the spiritual, the body with its passions, and the soul with its desires. Man's .bodily powers tend to his material good ; his spiritual powetS, to his .spiritual good. When some object satisfies both his bodily and his spiritual powers, there is harmony between them. But it often happens that an object which is acceptable to the bodily powers opposes the.spiritual, and then there is conflict .between them, a conflict which may end with the victory of one .side .or the other. The very possibility of such inner conflict in 17 ! I • I I :I
man constitutes a grave defect in his nature. How much worse is it when the result.of s~~ 5onfiict is.~~<;, ;vjct~ey _ of body-over spirit I This to a rational being is disaster. God in His infinite Mercy wished to prevent this, and resolved to give man a completely new life. He made him a partaker of the life and happiness of the Creator Himself. Man, of his own nature, had no right to such happiness, and could never have deserved it by his own efforts. This happiness was to know God with a direct knowledge, and to love Him as He should be loved. That man might deserve this happiness and possess it, God in His in.finite Mercy gave him supernatural gifts which he could never have acquired by ·any natural means, nor deserved by his own powers. The Church teaches us that God gave man sanctifying grace, through which he became a partaker in the Divine Nature and able to attain to God direct through the Beatific Vision. God further gave man preternatural gifts, such as the gift of incorruptibility, infused knowledge, the ability to master his passions, and the immortality of the body. These privileges. were given to man to equip him still further to receive a:nd ·use a yet more precious gift-sanctifying grace. ID. Through their sin, our fitst parents lost sanctifying grace and the supernatural gifts, and, with them, the right to see God and love Him. Their sin descended to the whole human race, and is known as original sin. God in His infinite Mercy did not allow mankind to remain in so dire a state, and even in Paradise promised a Redeemer. Here God's justice is SUipassed by His Mercy, for the Son of God, by whotn" all things were made", became man, paid a fitting ransom for sin, and raised from the misery of sin all who believe in Him and make wise use of the means He has provided. This is the third work of the infinite Mercy of God: • " God, who is rich in mercy ... hath quickened us together in Christ,,.(Eph. z : 4-5), writes St. Paul, developing the thought that everything that happened in connection with Our Lord, happens also, in a mystical manner, to the Christian. Through baptism he is engraftcd into the dying Christ; with Him he dies, to rise again with Him to a new, supernatural life. "Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by baptism unto death ; that, as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have 18
been' planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans, 6 : 3-5). • The Apostle of the Gentiles takes this comparison from the ceremony of baptism by immersion, which was intended as a symbol of descending into the death of Christ, and the rising up from the water symbolized resurrection v.,lth Him. Moreover, when he receives the Holy Ghost, the Christian receives the·germ of Christ's adorable life, the supernatural life, which our first parents received, and lost by sin. We can, then, rightly say that God in His Mercy has given us life in Christ, that He washes in His blood the stains of sin from our souls, adorns them with His •merits, and clothes them in the wedding garment-sanctifying grace, in which alone we can go to the marriage feast of the Heavenly Father, as His adopted children. This is the third and greatest work of the Divine Mercy. * * * * * " For thy mercy is before my eyes ; and I am well pleased with thy truth" (Psalm 2.5 : 3), says the Psalmist, as he muses on the work of Divine Mercy in the natural order, the creation and preservation of the world. Much more should we keep before our eyes the supernatural work of this Mercy, by which God raised man to the supernatu.ral state and, still more, restored this state to him after the Fall, to the benefit of each one of us. Here indeed " Mercy and truth have met each other : justice and peace have kissed. Truth is sprung out of the earth : and justice hath looked down from heaven" (Psalm 84: 11-12.). 6, THE MERCY OF DIVINE SONSHIP " For the Spirit himself giveth testimof!Y . . . that we are the son.1 of God" (Romans 8 : 16). Through sanctifying grace, man becomes the adopted child of God. Adoption is the free acceptance of a stranger to be one's son and heir. The adopted child must be a stranger to him who adopts him ; he may not be his""own child. And adoption must be a free act. In other words, the adopted child must not 'have any rights to sonship. Let us see how great is the Mercy of God in thus raising rational beings to become His sons. 19 i I I • 1 I . 1 I I , I
I. Among men, the adoption of sons takes place from necessity, when a man has no children of his own. But God adopted us as His children, not from necessity, but out of His infinite Mercy, because He desires to give us His riches and h-appiness. All adoption presupposes similarity of nature : a man cannot, for instance, adopt an animal as his son. .And therefore God, in adopting man as His child, makes him like Himself by sanctifying .grace. Thus, among men, adoption ls only external. It can give the right of inheritance, but no inner change takes place in the adopted person. God, on the other hand, changes man's soul, raising it to the supernatural state, making it like Himself, empowering it to live and delight~ that happiness whicq He Himself .enjoys. Among men, then, adoption can never be regarded as a rebirth, for it gives the adopted child only earthly gifts, gifts exterior to himself. But God in a certain sense gives man a second birth when He adopts him, for man receives a new nature through san·ctifying grace ; becomes a new creature, sharing in the nature of God. This is why the Bible calls the adopted person " born of God 11 : . " But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to those who believe in his name; who arc born ... of God,, (John I : 12.-13). The sons of human adoption inherit their material possessions only after the death of the adoptive father, as his heirs. But God in His infinite Mercy allows us to share in His treasures and joys at all times, for spiritual gifts can belong to many, and simultaneously. Thus the innumerable host _of saints, all sharing in the same happiness, do one another no wrong-and still less can they deprive of any good thing the Father who ever lives and rejoices in perfect bliss (S.T. 3 : q.13, a.11 ad :z. and ad 3). "For you have nol: received the spirit of bondage again in fear : but you ha:v~ ,:eceived the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry : •Abba (Father). For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, then heirs ; heirs indeed of God and joint-heirs with Christ " (Rom. 8 : 15-17). " It is the great Mercy of Gocf', s_ays St. Athanasius, " that He becomes the Father of those to whom He is first the Cteator:- This takes place when the men He has created, as the Apostle says, receive into their hearts the Spirit of His Son, calling Abba, Father. For they cannot in any other way become sons, being by nature crcat\:!.res, than by receiving the Spirit of Him. who is ~s true and veritable Son" (Or. 2. Contra Arian., n.s9). "Mai;,., .20
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