Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Saint Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy 23 The first thing that we notice is the Infancy narratives. Matthew also has an Infancy narrative. But Luke’s narratives deal with the details of the births allowing for an expansion o f our understanding o f the momentousness o f the events. Luke begins with the birth o f John the Baptist, who is a bridge between the Old and New Testaments. Although that is significant, the major point is that Elizabeth has been barren, to the Jews a sign o f God’s disfavor, since there is no fruit of her womb given by God. We should immediately call to mind the Hebrew word for Mercy that fits this situation, racham, and its sister word, rechem, or “womb,” which conveys powerful emotion because the fruit of the womb is God’s gift of life. Mary understands the full significance o f this favor from God and goes immediately to celebrate it with Elizabeth. It is Elizabeth who rec­ ognizes not only her own favor from God, but the grace bestowed on Mary and exclaims: O f all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit o f your womb (Luke 1:42). Next we notice there are three pieces o f poetry in Luke’s Infancy nar­ ratives. They are not found anywhere else. So powerful are these pieces o f poetry, it has been the tradition o f the Roman Catholic Church since the time o f St. Benedict, the Father o f Western Monasticism, that these canticles serve as the great daily hymns o f the Liturgy o f the Hours. The Benedictus of Zachary recited daily at Lauds; the Magnificat o f the Blessed Virgin at Vespers, and the Nunc Dimittis of Simeon at Compline. But for our purposes it is worth noting that each one deals with Mercy and Faithfulness. Both the Benedictus and the Magnificat have the Greek word eleos for hesed (or Mercy) and the Nunc Dimittis refers to the faithfulness o f God in fulfilling not only His promise to Simeon, but also to His people Israel, by sending His salvation. Some Scripture scholars have shown that St. Luke uses a literary device in the canticles called “poetic parallelism.”20 Poetic parallelism is a peculiarity of Hebrew poetry. Fr. Murphy writes this about poetic parallelism: Hebrew poetry never employed rhyme, but is governed