Jubilee Year of Mercy

By Bishop Michael W. Warfel

After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate, choosing her to be the Mother of Man’s Redeemer. When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive (from the introduction to the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, #3).

The heart of Christian faith is about mercy. Though the concept seems to get lost all too often, God’s special election of a people several millennia ago and God’s sending of his only begotten Son for our redemption is about mercy; it is about God’s intervention in time for our salvation from sin and death. It is what we celebrate in Christ’s Nativity and through his Passion, Death and Resurrection. God’s mercy is about removing the folly of bad human choices and the curse of sin and the offering us the gift of redemption. It is about removing us from a path to eternal death to a way to eternal life.

A term from Scripture likely not all that well known to many is “Mercy Seat.” Technically translated as “propiatory,” it is used in the 25th chapter of Exodus and the 9th chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews. It is in reference to the Ark of the Covenant which held the Ten Commandments and was reposed in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. I mention Mercy Seat because of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the Ark of the New Covenant, the new Mercy Seat. She is the receptacle of the Incarnate Son of God, the Word of God made flesh, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. There is a connection to the Blessed Virgin and the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Looking back earlier in December, to the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Church celebrated Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb, not Jesus’ conception in Mary’s womb. From the instant of her conception, she was holy, filled with God’s grace and without Original Sin as well as without personal sin throughout her life. There is no passage in Scripture that concretely tells us of Mary’s conception, but it has been a consistent belief of the Church from the earliest of times. There is an essential connection between Mary’s conception and Jesus’ conception. Mary is full of grace because of Jesus. Mary is fully receptive to God working though her and in her. Through Mary, the mercy of God became manifest for all people in all of history. She became the New Ark of a new Covenant that is in Christ. Whereas the old Ark of the Covenant held the Ten Commandments, this new Ark of the Covenant becomes the dwelling place of the Word of God made human, like us in all things but sin. Through the Incarnate Word of God, God offers mercy to a world beset by sin and death. Mary’s part in salvation’s story is incredibly significant. She is the Mercy Seat. She was filled with grace that we might become grace filled ourselves. As St. Paul asserts, “God chose us in him to be holy and blameless in his sight.” As God knows, we are not always holy or blameless. It is why we must depend so much on God’s mercy.

Pope Francis writes in the Bull of Indiction: We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness (Bull of Indiction, #2).

Mary’s openness to God is an essential element in God’s plan for our salvation. By her openness to bear the Son of God, she becomes a primary instrument in our salvation. Now, we are also invited to be instruments of God’s plan for our salvation and the salvation of others. We do so first of all by responding to God’s offer of mercy personally and striving to become holy persons. We do so secondly by being instruments of grace and mercy as we help others to become holy.

An image I often use to convey this is that of an electrical charge flowing through a copper wire. The wire cannot store up the electrical charge, but only allow it to pass through. If it cannot pass through the wire, it never enters into it. Mercy acts very much like this. If mercy does not flow through us, it never actually enters into us. Paradoxically, it is when we allow it to pass through us that we grow in grace.

There are two basic ways by which is demonstrate the mercy of God toward others. One is by reaching out in some way to those who are poor, vulnerable, disenfranchised, struggling, disheartened, and in some kind of genuine need. The other is by being a means of reconciliation and forgiveness. What Pope Francis urges us to do is to embrace, in a practical and concrete way, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. They are scripturally based. The corporal works of mercy are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses willingly, bear wrongs patiently and pray on behalf of the living and the dead.

When we embody these holy works, we grow in grace because they reflect God’s love and mercy for others. We become a light of God’s love and mercy for others to see. As has been said, “…faith that does not connect to life is dead; life that is not illuminated by faith is blind.” Extending mercy to others, in response to God’s mercy to us, is really not all that complicated. It is actually quite concrete. It requires us to turn away from those ways in which we have become self-centered, and to turn instead toward those we encounter in life who have material and spiritual needs; needs which we can meet. In doing so, we become instruments of mercy.

To paraphrase the words of Pope Francis at the end of the Bull of Indiction, May we echo the word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and sign of pardon, strength, aid and love. May we never tire of extending mercy, and be ever patient in offering compassion and comfort. May we be the voice of every man and woman and repeat confidently without end: ‘Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old’ (Ps. 25:6).