Oboedire "Year of Mercy: A Multi-Religious Reality" by J. Steven Harper by for Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Oboedire   "Year of Mercy: A Multi-Religious Reality" by J. Steven Harper by for Tuesday, 7 June 2016
(23) Pope Francis makes it clear that his emphasis on mercy is not restricted to Roman Christianity, or to Christianity itself. Mercy is at the heart of Judaism and Islam and (in his words) "other noble religious traditions."
It is only speculation on my part, but I am guessing that the Pope's emphasis on Judaism and Islam was not only an acknowledgment of the existence of mercy in each religion, but also a hope that these two religions and peoples will exhibit mercy toward each other in ways that often seem to be missing. Again, the Pope did not go so far as to say this in the document, but I wonder.
What he does say is that he intends for The Year of Mercy to include interfaith dialog, with the aim that wherever closed-mindedness and disrespect exists, it might come to an end, and that all forms of violence and discrimination might be driven out of our relationships. And already in this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis is enacting his own exhortation.
For us, the Pope's message is not only one for the earth to hear, it is one for each community to heed. In too many places, Christians are strangers (or worse) to those of other faiths, and to other Christians as well (theologically and institutionally), behaving more like competitors than manifestors of the common mercy of God. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear what Pope Francis is saying, we will recognize this is a call to all of 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 8, 2016

Year of Mercy

URL: http://wp.me/p101na-1EJ
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23. There is an aspect of mercy that goes beyond the confines of the Church. It relates us to Judaism and Islam, both of which consider mercy to be one of God’s most important attributes. Israel was the first to receive this revelation which continues in history as the source of an inexhaustible  richness meant to be shared with all mankind. As we have seen, the pages of the Old Testament are steeped in mercy, because they narrate the works that the Lord performed in favour of his people at the most trying moments of their history. Among the privileged names that Islam attributes to the Creator are “Merciful and Kind”. This invocation is often on the lips of faithful Muslims who feel themselves accompanied and sustained by mercy in their daily weakness. They too believe that no one can place a limit on divine mercy because its doors are always open. 

I trust that this Jubilee year celebrating the mercy of God will foster an encounter with these religions and with other noble religious traditions; may it open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know and understand one another better; may it eliminate every form of closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and discrimination.

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