Commentary
How Merciful is God’s
Mercy?
We might
sometimes, or even often, limit God’s mercy to the forgiveness of our
sins. We think of it as a kind of pardon – similar to
what given to a criminal after the person has served the deserved punishment.
It is true
that we are all sinners who are repeatedly in need of God’s mercy and pardon.
But God’s
mercy is not the same as our juridical system, in which the records of one’s
crimes are kept – sometimes seemingly forever.
God, in
His great mercy, forgives our sins. Moreover,
God, in the death and resurrection of God’s only Son, has made us free children
of God. Thus, the profession of the First
Letter of Peter (today’s 2nd Reading),
“The God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy, gave us a new
birth to a living hope …, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled,
and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
That is
the extent of God’s mercy.
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