Word of the Week

Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday

Mercy (Hb.): Hesed: “A profound sense of goodness; a blood bond of love” ; Rahimim: “The love of a mother”; behind these terms conveys solidity and fidelity in God's covenant love, a manifestation of God's grace.  

Mercy is the loving power that extends compassion and forbearance to one who offends (CCC 277). The height of God's mercy comes to us in the Church through the sacrament of Penance. In this sacrament of mercy, we are restored in right relationship with Christ to live in his life and love, which is the perfection of the heart of mercy (CCC 1422). The merciful are blessed and possess the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:3-12) (CCC 1716).

Mercy is found 143 times in Sacred Scripture: 77 in the Old Testament and 66 in the New Testament. As Pope John Paul II highlights in his encyclical on Mercy, Dives in Misericordia , there are two Hebrew words used to describe God's mercy in the OT. The first is hesed , this usage of mercy always occurs in connection with the covenant that God established with Israel . In particular, it speaks of God's OT love and grace. This covenant to Israel was a gift from God in its entirety. God always made a commitment to respect it (Ex. 34:6; 2 Sm. 2:6, 15:20; Ps. 25:10, 40:11-12) (DM, 52). “ The fruits of this love are forgiveness and restoration to grace, the reestablishment of the interior covenant” (DM, 52). The second word, which in the terminology of the OT serves to define mercy, is rahamim ( DM , 52). While hesed highlights the marks of solidity and fidelity to self and the call to be faithful to God, rahamim , in its very root, denotes the love of a mother, literally translating the “ mother's womb” . John Paul II goes on to say in his exposition of Mercy, “From the deep and original bond, indeed the unity which links a mother to her child, there springs a particular relationship to the child, a particular love. Of this love, one can say that it is completely gratuitous, not merited, and that in this aspect it constitutes an interior necessity” ( DM, 52). This love, faithful and invincible thanks to the mysterious power of motherhood, is what is expressed in the OT concept of rahimim (Hos. 14:5) (DM, 52).

With the aforementioned definitions of mercy in the OT, we now have a foundation to understanding Christ's mission of atonement in the NT. That is, the pouring out of himself on the cross as a gift to the church. This libation of Christ is necessary for man to drink from the cup of mercy in the Eucharist. Essentially speaking, man becomes a new creation in Christ (Gal. 5:15). In addition, this rebirth offers us a new hope in the risen Christ (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Mercy is the superabundance of the divine life of God working in and through the Church and the body of Christ. We are called to not only drink from the wellspring of mercy but also give it away exemplifying Christ on the cross. In this way, with constant prayer (1 Thess.5:17), we model Christianity and become stewards of mercy.

“In y our mercy we were created. And by your mercy we were created anew in your Son's blood. It is your mercy that preserves us.”

--Catherine of Siena

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition

•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

•  Encyclical of John Paul II. Dives in Misericordia. November, 1980.

 

The Catholic Hour Home Page
Comments or Questions?
Contact Webmaster