by Br. Nicholas Hejka, O.S.B.

*    Like all things concerning God, the mercy of God is so great and profound that our words inevitably and necessarily fall short of the truth they are meant to convey.  The best way to understand God’s mercy is to come into His presence in silent contemplation, where He reveals Himself to those who draw near to listen to Him.

     Though we have greatly offended God and insulted His divine majesty by our sins, He has compassion on our miserable state when we commit sin.  Indeed, God does not wait for us to return to Him, for He is the one who seeks us out, though we must choose to return to Him through the graces He offers us.  When we accept these graces and acknowledge that we are lost and need to be found, dead and need to be brought back to life, and turn back to God through repentance, with sincerity and goodwill, He is rich in mercy and forgives us.  Though we might not consider ourselves worthy of being restored as His children after offending Him, considering it great clemency to simply be His servant, God nonetheless does bring repentant sinners back into His covenant family and into the Body of Christ.

     The most natural response of a heart that knows it has received the mercy of God is gratitude and love, which burst forth in constant praise.  This gratitude and love further move us to labor—by any means necessary and with the charity, meekness, and gentleness of God—to bring others to turn to God’s mercy, especially in the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance, and glorify and extol Him along with us.  Since God—and all of Heaven with Him—rejoices greatly at the repentance and conversion of sinners, we who have received mercy must likewise rejoice to see others—especially the worst, most hardened sinners—receive God’s mercy just as we have, even at the last moment of their life.  If we do this, we become, like St. Paul and the Apostles, ambassadors for Christ who exercise the ministry of reconciliation for which Jesus offered Himself on the Cross, though we do so within our personal vocation and state in life, using the unique gifts God has given to us.

* Photo courtesy of:  https://picryl.com

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