The Year of Mercy and its Meaning for All of Us

My favorite of all the parables of Jesus is the one of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt. 18:21-35). In it, Jesus tells the story of the servant who is forgiven for his own debts, yet shows no sign of that same forgiving spirit toward one of his own servants who owes him a mere fraction of the debt that he himself owed. When his peers learn of his actions, he is reported to the King who confronts him, stating “You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.” (vs.33). The King then jails the unmerciful servant until he has paid his debt. The parable concludes with these powerful word of Jesus: “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (vs.35).

Our Lord’s life, as the Scriptures tell, was one of mercy. When we are at Mass, we remember the mercy that Jesus showed the Roman officer in curing his servant (Mt. 8:5-13) by saying “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”. Like the centurion over two centuries ago, we believe in Our Lord’s ability to heal each one of us, right where we stand.

But the most moving, powerful example of Our Lord’s mercy can be found, not at the beginning of his ministry, but in the words “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). I don’t know of too many of us who, after hours of torture ending in certain death on the cross who would ask that the torturers be forgiven; most of us would probably be waiting with anticipation for them to get what we believe is coming to them. Yet with one of his dying phrases Jesus, who by this time is probably struggling just to breathe, utters a plea for mercy.

In proclaiming 2016 to be the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds each of us of the power of our minds and the everyday need to make a choice to hold each other in the cage of past or present acts, which ultimately holds us hostage to them too, or to allow us to forgive past wrongs, which ultimately frees us to love others as well. There is no need, if we truly believe in mercy, to gossip or to hold grudges. There is, however, a need to love and forgive, and be loved and forgiven in return. Let us take this time, to resolve to look at ourselves and to pray to learn these important things, and to make the choice of how to think of one another.

Happy New Year everyone!