IN LITTLE WAYS
I love that Pope Francis urged us to spend this year considering God’s mercy. I’ve found numerous Scripture passages which proclaim and illustrate God’s mercy and give me food for thought.
Some passages, though, take work, such as these quotes from the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Where’s the mercy in these verses?
Perhaps Jesus is saying these things to wake us up and get us to acknowledge our need for mercy. Because he also said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do… I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:12). We can’t get well until we admit we’re sick. We can’t receive mercy until we admit we need it.
I think when Jesus tells us to be perfect, he’s issuing a challenge. He’s saying, “You can try to get into heaven by following the law, but then you have to follow it perfectly every minute of every day. You can’t ever lose your temper or hurt someone’s feelings. You must give most of your money away and devote yourself to good works. Can you really do all that?”
St. Paul tried to be the perfect Jew (Philippians 3:4-8), but he couldn’t. He eventually concluded that God gave us the Law to show us our sinfulness. He hoped we would then seek his mercy and embrace Christ as our savior (Romans 7:14-25).
But, if we rely on mercy instead of righteousness, won’t we sin even more? I don’t think so. We don’t come out of the confessional thinking, “Oh goody, now I can go sin some more!” Rather, we are grateful and eager to serve God more wholeheartedly.
St. Paul says we are God’s adopted children (Romans 8:15). Consider what happens when an older child is adopted. At first, she is shy and anxious to please her new parents. Then the pendulum swings the other way. She begins pushing the limits, wondering at what point her parents will stop loving her. As trust builds, though, this misbehavior falls away, and she as obedient as their biological child would be.
Seeing ourselves as God’s adopted children should bring us peace. We know that no matter how often our children disappoint us, we don’t throw them away. Likewise, we may grieve God, but we cannot lose his love. We may so thoroughly reject him that we create our own hell, but that’s our choice, not his.
Life is full of rules. Some we follow out of fear. No one wants to annoy the IRS. Some we follow because we see their importance. We don’t drive the wrong way up a one-way street. Some we follow for love, like the rules of marriage. The more we trust in God’s mercy, the more we serve him out of love and the more we find that his yoke truly is easy.
There’s one more obstacle to this loving obedience — pride. Part of us wants to earn our way to heaven. We’d prefer to be on equal footing with God. Pride can even creep into our personal devotions or charitable works. Silly us! We can never say enough prayers or donate enough money to win heaven. Our only hope is the divine mercy we’re urged to contemplate and celebrate this holy year.
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo 96720, or email: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
