Oboedire "Year of Mercy: Mother of Mercy" by J. Steven Harper for Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Oboedire   "Year of Mercy: Mother of Mercy" by J. Steven Harper for Tuesday, 14 June 2016
(24) Pope Francis heads toward the end of his writing as is often the style for Roman Christians--by including Mary in the document as not only an example of mercy in her own right, but also as one who prays from heaven that we will become more merciful here on earth.
From the depth of her experience, Mary "attests that the mercy of the Son of God knows no bounds and extends to everyone without exception." Similarly, the Pope invokes the prayers of the saints, who themselves lived lives of mercy across the earth over the centuries.
As a Protestant Christian, I do not invoke the prayers of Mary and the saints in the same way Roman Christians do, but like them, I believe we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1)--a "great cloud" that is aware of and concerned for us as we take our turn running the race set before us--a "great cloud" encouraging us to faithfulness in our day as they were in theirs. Mary is surely among them.
Whatever that actually means in the Mystery that exists between the Church invisible and the Church visible, one thing is sure: if we are to be people of mercy: we need all the help we can get! So yes, saints pray for us!
[Note: the numbers at the beginning of each meditation correspond to the section of the Pope's document on which it is based][J. Steven Harper]

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Year of Mercy

URL: http://wp.me/p101na-1EL
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24. My thoughts now turn to the Mother of Mercy. May the sweetness of her countenance watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of God’s tenderness. No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation like Mary. Her entire life was patterned after the presence of mercy made flesh. The Mother of the Crucified and Risen One has entered the sanctuary of divine mercy because she participated intimately in the mystery of His love.

Chosen to be the Mother of the Son of God, Mary, from the outset, was prepared by the love of God to be the Ark of the Covenant between God and man. She treasured divine mercy in her heart in perfect harmony with her Son Jesus. Her hymn of praise, sung at the threshold of the home of Elizabeth, was dedicated to the mercy of God which extends from “generation to generation” (Lk 1:50). We too were included in those prophetic words of the Virgin Mary. This will be a source of comfort and strength to us as we cross the threshold of the Holy Year to experience the fruits of divine mercy.

At the foot of the Cross, Mary, together with John, the disciple of love, witnessed the words of forgiveness spoken by Jesus. This supreme expression of mercy towards those who crucified him show us the point to which the mercy of God can reach. Mary attests that the mercy of the Son of God knows no bounds and extends to everyone, without exception. Let us address her in the words of the Salve Regina, a prayer ever ancient and ever new, so that she may never tire of turning her merciful eyes upon us, and make us worthy to contemplate the face of mercy, her Son Jesus.

Our prayer also extends to the saints and blessed ones who made divine mercy their mission in life. I think especially of the great apostle of mercy, Saint Faustina Kowalska. May she, who was called to enter the depths of divine mercy, intercede for us and obtain for us the grace of living and walking always according to the mercy of God and with an unwavering trust in his love.

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