Dives in misericordia
Encyclical Letter of John Paul II
November 30, 1980
PART II
VII. THE
MERCY OF GOD IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
In connection with this picture of our generation, a picture
which cannot fail to cause profound anxiety, there come to mind
once more those words which, by reason of the Incarnation of the
Son of God, resounded in Mary's Magnificat, and which sing of
"mercy from generation to generation." The Church of our time,
constantly pondering the eloquence of these inspired words, and
applying them to the sufferings of the great human family, must
become more particularly and profoundly conscious of the need to
bear witness in her whole mission to God's mercy, following in
the footsteps of the tradition of the Old and the New Covenant,
and above all of Jesus Christ Himself and His Apostles. The
Church must bear witness to the mercy of God revealed in Christ,
in the whole of His mission as Messiah, professing it in the
first place as a salvific truth of faith and as necessary for a
life in harmony with faith, and then seeking to introduce it and
to make it incarnate in the lives both of her faithful and as
far as possible in the lives of all people of good will.
Finally, the Church-professing mercy and remaining always
faithful to it-has the right and the duty to call upon the mercy
of God, imploring it in the face of all the manifestations of
physical and moral evil, before all the threats that cloud the
whole horizon of the life of humanity today.
13. The Church Professes the Mercy of God and Proclaims It
The Church must profess and proclaim God's mercy in all its
truth, as it has been handed down to us by revelation. We have
sought, in the foregoing pages of the present document, to give
at least an outline of this truth, which finds such rich
expression in the whole of Sacred Scripture and in Sacred
Tradition. In the daily life of the Church the truth about the
mercy of God, expressed in the Bible, resounds as a perennial
echo through the many readings of the Sacred Liturgy. The
authentic sense of faith of the People of God perceives this
truth, as is shown by various expressions of personal and
community piety. It would of course be difficult to give a list
or summary of them all, since most of them are vividly inscribed
in the depths of people's hearts and minds. Some theologians
affirm that mercy is the greatest of the attributes and
perfections of God, and the Bible, Tradition and the whole faith
life of the People of God provide particular proofs of this. It
is not a question here of the perfection of the inscrutable
essence of God in the mystery of the divinity itself, but of the
perfection and attribute whereby man, in the intimate truth of
his existence, encounters the living God particularly closely
and particularly often. In harmony with Christ's words to
Philip,112 the "vision of the Father"-a vision of God through
faith finds precisely in the encounter with His mercy a unique
moment of interior simplicity and truth, similar to that which
we discover in the parable of the prodigal son.
"He who has seen me has seen the Father."113 The Church
professes the mercy of God, the Church lives by it in her wide
experience of faith and also in her teaching, constantly
contemplating Christ, concentrating on Him, on His life and on
His Gospel, on His cross and resurrection, on His whole mystery.
Everything that forms the "vision" of Christ in the Church's
living faith and teaching brings us nearer to the "vision of the
Father" in the holiness of His mercy. The Church seems in a
particular way to profess the mercy of God and to venerate it
when she directs herself to the Heart of Christ. In fact, it is
precisely this drawing close to Christ in the mystery of His
Heart which enables us to dwell on this point-a point in a sense
central and also most accessible on the human level-of the
revelation of the merciful love of the Father, a revelation
which constituted the central content of the messianic mission
of the Son of Man.
The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and
proclaims mercy-the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and
of the Redeemer-and when she brings people close to the sources
of the Savior's mercy, of which she is the trustee and
dispenser. Of great significance in this area is constant
meditation on the Word of God, and above all conscious and
mature participation in the Eucharist and in the sacrament of
Penance or Reconciliation. The Eucharist brings us ever nearer
to that love which is more powerful than death: "For as often as
we eat this bread and drink this cup," we proclaim not only the
death of the Redeemer but also His resurrection, "until he
comes" in glory.114 The same Eucharistic rite, celebrated in
memory of Him who in His messianic mission revealed the Father
to us by means of His words and His cross, attests to the
inexhaustible love by virtue of which He desires always to be
united with us and present in our midst, coming to meet every
human heart. It is the sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation
that prepares the way for each individual, even those weighed
down with great faults. In this sacrament each person can
experience mercy in a unique way, that is, the love which is
more powerful than sin. This has already been spoken of in the
encyclical Redemptor hominis; but it will be fitting to return
once more to this fundamental theme.
It is precisely because sin exists in the world, which "God so
loved...that he gave his only Son,"115 that God, who "is
love,"116 cannot reveal Himself otherwise than as mercy. This
corresponds not only to the most profound truth of that love
which God is, but also to the whole interior truth of man and of
the world which is man's temporary homeland.
Mercy in itself, as a perfection of the infinite God, is also
infinite. Also infinite therefore and inexhaustible is the
Father's readiness to receive the prodigal children who return
to His home. Infinite are the readiness and power of forgiveness
which flow continually from the marvelous value of the sacrifice
of the Son. No human sin can prevail over this power or even
limit it. On the part of man only a lack of good will can limit
it, a lack of readiness to be converted and to repent, in other
words persistence in obstinacy, opposing grace and truth,
especially in the face of the witness of the cross and
resurrection of Christ.
Therefore, the Church professes and proclaims conversion.
Conversion to God always consists in discovering His mercy, that
is, in discovering that love which is patient and kind117 as
only the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the "God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"118 is faithful to the
uttermost consequences in the history of His covenant with man;
even to the cross and to the death and resurrection of the Son.
Conversion to God is always the fruit of the"rediscovery of this
Father, who is rich in mercy.
Authentic knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love,
is a constant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not only
as a momentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as
a state of mind. Those who come to know God in this way, who
"see" Him in this way, can live only in a state of being
continually converted to Him. They live, therefore, in statu
conversionis; and it is this state of conversion which marks out
the most profound element of the pilgrimage of every man and
woman on earth in statu viatoris. It is obvious that the Church
professes the mercy of God, revealed in the crucified and risen
Christ, not only by the word of her teaching but above all
through the deepest pulsation of the life of the whole People of
God. By means of this testimony of life, the Church fulfills the
mission proper to the People of God, the mission which is a
sharing in and, in a sense, a continuation of the messianic
mission of Christ Himself.
The contemporary Church is profoundly conscious that only on the
basis of the mercy of God will she be able to carry out the
tasks that derive from the teaching of the Second Vatican
Council, and, in the first place, the ecumenical task which aims
at uniting all those who confess Christ. As she makes many
efforts in this direction, the Church confesses with humility
that only that love which is more powerful than the weakness of
human divisions can definitively bring about that unity which
Christ implored from the Father and which the Spirit never
ceases to beseech for us "with sighs too deep for words."119
14. The Church Seeks To Put Mercy into Practice
Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences
the mercy of God, but that he is also called "to practice mercy"
towards others: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy."120 The Church sees in these words a call to action, and
she tries to practice mercy. All the beatitudes of the Sermon on
the Mount indicate the way of conversion and of reform of life,
but the one referring to those who are merciful is particularly
eloquent in this regard. Man attains to the merciful love of
God, His mercy, to the extent that he himself is interiorly
transformed in the spirit of that love towards his neighbor.
This authentically evangelical process is not just a spiritual
transformation realized once and for all: it is a whole
lifestyle, an essential and continuous characteristic of the
Christian vocation. It consists in the constant discovery and
persevering practice of love as a unifying and also elevating
power despite all difficulties of a psychological or social
nature: it is a question, in fact, of a merciful love which, by
its essence, is a creative love. In reciprocal relationships
between persons merciful love is never a unilateral act or
process. Even in the cases in which everything would seem to
indicate that only one party is giving and offering, and the
other only receiving and taking (for example, in the case of a
physician giving treatment, a teacher teaching, parents
supporting and bringing up their children, a benefactor helping
the needy), in reality the one who gives is always also a
beneficiary. In any case, he too can easily find himself in the
position of the one who receives, who obtains a benefit, who
experiences merciful love; he too can find himself the object of
mercy.
In this sense Christ crucified is for us the loftiest model,
inspiration and encouragement. When we base ourselves on this
disquieting model, we are able with all humility to show mercy
to others, knowing that Christ accepts it as if it were shown to
Himself.121 On the basis of this model, we must also continually
purify all our actions and all our intentions in which mercy is
understood and practiced in a unilateral way, as a good done to
others. An act of merciful love is only really such when we are
deeply convinced at the moment that we perform it that we are at
the same time receiving mercy from the people who are accepting
it from us. If this bilateral and reciprocal quality is absent,
our actions are not yet true acts of mercy, nor has there yet
been fully completed in us that conversion to which Christ has
shown us the way by His words and example, even to the cross,
nor are we yet sharing fully in the magnificent source of
merciful love that has been revealed to us by Him.
Thus, the way which Christ showed to us in the Sermon on the
Mount with the beatitude regarding those who are merciful is
much richer than what we sometimes find in ordinary human
opinions about mercy. These opinions see mercy as a unilateral
act or process, presupposing and maintaining a certain distance
between the one practicing mercy and the one benefitting from
it, between the one who does good and the one who receives it.
Hence the attempt to free interpersonal and social relationships
from mercy and to base them solely on justice. However, such
opinions about mercy fail to see the fundamental link between
mercy and justice spoken of by the whole biblical tradition, and
above all by the messianic mission of Jesus Christ. True mercy
is, so to speak, the most profound source of justice. If justice
is in itself suitable for "arbitration" between people
concerning the reciprocal distribution of objective goods in an
equitable manner, love and only love (including that kindly love
that we call "mercy") is capable of restoring man to Himself.
Mercy that is truly Christian is also, in a certain sense, the
most perfect incarnation of "equality" between people, and
therefore also the most perfect incarnation of justice as well,
insofar as justice aims at the same result in its own sphere.
However, the equality brought by justice is limited to the realm
of objective and extrinsic goods, while love and mercy bring it
about that people meet one another in that value which is man
himself, with the dignity that is proper to him. At the same
time, "equality" of people through "patient and kind" love122
does not take away differences: the person who gives becomes
more generous when he feels at the same time benefitted by the
person accepting his gift; and vice versa, the person who
accepts the gift with the awareness that, in accepting it, he
too is doing good is in his own way serving the great cause of
the dignity of the person; and this contributes to uniting
people in a more profound manner.
Thus, mercy becomes an indispensable element for shaping mutual
relationships between people, in a spirit of deepest respect for
what is human, and in a spirit of mutual brotherhood. It is
impossible to establish this bond between people, if they wish
to regulate their mutual relationships solely according to the
measure of justice. In every sphere of interpersonal
relationships justice must, so to speak, be "corrected " to a
considerable extent by that love which, as St. Paul proclaims,
"is patient and kind" or, in other words, possesses the
characteristics of that merciful love which is so much of the
essence of the Gospel and Christianity. Let us remember,
furthermore, that merciful love also means the cordial
tenderness and sensitivity so eloquently spoken of in the
parable of the prodigal son,123 and also in the parables of the
lost sheep and the lost coin.124 Consequently, merciful love is
supremely indispensable between those who are closest to one
another: between husbands and wives, between parents and
children, between friends; and it is indispensable in education
and in pastoral work.
Its sphere of action, however, is not limited to this. If Paul
VI more than once indicated the civilization of love"125 as the
goal towards which all efforts in the cultural and social fields
as well as in the economic and political fields should tend. it
must be added that this good will never be reached if in our
thinking and acting concerning the vast and complex spheres of
human society we stop at the criterion of "an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth"126 and do not try to transform it in its
essence, by complementing it with another spirit. Certainly, the
Second Vatican Council also leads us in this direction, when it
speaks repeatedly of the need to make the world more human,127
and says that the realization of this task is precisely the
mission of the Church in the modern world. Society can become
ever more human only if we introduce into the many-sided setting
of interpersonal and social relationships, not merely justice,
but also that "merciful love" which constitutes the messianic
message of the Gospel.
Society can become "ever more human" only when we introduce into
all the mutual relationships which form its moral aspect the
moment of forgiveness, which is so much of the essence of the
Gospel. Forgiveness demonstrates the presence in the world of
the love which is more powerful than sin. Forgiveness is also
the fundamental condition for reconciliation, not only in the
relationship of God with man, but also in relationships between
people. A world from which forgiveness was eliminated would be
nothing but a world of cold and unfeeling justice, in the name
of which each person would claim his or her own rights vis-a-
vis others; the various kinds of selfishness latent in man would
transform life and human society into a system of oppression of
the weak by the strong, or into an arena of permanent strife
between one group and another.
For this reason, the Church must consider it one of her
principal duties-at every stage of history and especially in our
modern age-to proclaim and to introduce into life the mystery of
mercy, supremely revealed in Jesus Christ. Not only for the
Church herself as the community of believers but also in a
certain sense for all humanity, this mystery is the source of a
life different from the life which can be built by man, who is
exposed to the oppressive forces of the threefold concupiscence
active within him.128 It is precisely in the name of this
mystery that Christ teaches us to forgive always. How often we
repeat the words of the prayer which He Himself taught us,
asking "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us," which means those who are guilty of
something in our regard129 It is indeed difficult to express the
profound value of the attitude which these words describe and
inculcate. How many things these words say to every individual
about others and also about himself. The consciousness of being
trespassers against each other goes hand in hand with the call
to fraternal solidarity, which St. Paul expressed in his concise
exhortation to "forbear one another in love."130 What a lesson
of humility is to be found here with regard to man, with regard
both to one's neighbor and to oneself What a school of good will
for daily living, in the various conditions of our existence If
we were to ignore this lesson, what would remain of any
"humanist" program of life and education?
Christ emphasizes so insistently the need to forgive others that
when Peter asked Him how many times he should forgive his
neighbor He answered with the symbolic number of "seventy times
seven,"131 meaning that he must be able to forgive everyone
every time. It is obvious that such a generous requirement of
forgiveness does not cancel out the objective requirements of
justice. Properly understood, justice constitutes, so to speak,
the goal of forgiveness. In no passage of the Gospel message
does forgiveness, or mercy as its source, mean indulgence
towards evil, towards scandals, towards injury or insult. In any
case, reparation for evil and scandal, compensation for injury,
and satisfaction for insult are conditions for forgiveness.
Thus the fundamental structure of justice always enters into the
sphere of mercy. Mercy, however, has the power to confer on
justice a new content, which is expressed most simply and fully
in forgiveness. Forgiveness, in fact, shows that, over and above
the process of "compensation" and "truce" which is specific to
justice, love is necessary, so that man may affirm himself as
man. Fulfillment of the conditions of justice is especially
indispensable in order that love may reveal its own nature. In
analyzing the parable of the prodigal son, we have already
called attention to the fact that he who forgives and he who is
forgiven encounter one another at an essential point, namely the
dignity or essential value of the person, a point which cannot
be lost and the affirmation of which, or its rediscovery, is a
source of the greatest joy.132
The Church rightly considers it her duty and the purpose of her
mission to guard the authenticity of forgiveness, both in life
and behavior and in educational and pastoral work. She protects
it simply by guarding its source, which is the mystery of the
mercy of God Himself as revealed in Jesus Christ.
The basis of the Church's mission, in all the spheres spoken of
in the numerous pronouncements of the most recent Council and in
the centuries-old experience of the apostolate, is none other
than "drawing from the wells of the Savior"133 this is what
provides many guidelines for the mission of the Church in the
lives of individual Christians, of individual communities, and
also of the whole People of God. This "drawing from the wells of
the Savior" can be done only in the spirit of that poverty to
which we are called by the words and example of the Lord: "You
received without pay, give without pay."134 Thus, in all the
ways of the Church's life and ministry-through the evangelical
poverty of her-ministers and stewards and of the whole people
which bears witness to "the mighty works" of its Lord-the God
who is "rich in mercy" has been made still more clearly
manifest.
VIII. THE
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH IN OUR TIMES
15. The Church Appeals to the Mercy of God
The Church proclaims the truth of God's mercy revealed in the
crucified and risen Christ, and she professes it in various
ways. Furthermore, she seeks to practice mercy towards people
through people, and she sees in this an indispensable condition
for solicitude for a better and "more human" world, today and
tomorrow. However, at no time and in no historical
period-especially at a moment as critical as our own-can the
Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid
the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten
it. Precisely this is the fundamental right and duty of the
Church in Christ Jesus, her right and duty towards God and
towards humanity. The more the human conscience succumbs to
secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word
"mercy," moves away from God and distances itself from the
mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty
to appeal to the God of mercy "with loud cries."135 These "loud
cries" should be the mark of the Church of our times, cries
uttered to God to implore His mercy, the certain manifestation
of which she professes and proclaims as having already come in
Jesus crucified and risen, that is, in the Paschal Mystery. It
is this mystery which bears within itself the most complete
revelation of mercy, that is, of that love which is more
powerful than death, more powerful than sin and every evil, the
love which lifts man up when he falls into the abyss and frees
him from the greatest threats.
Modern man feels these threats. What has been said above in this
regard is only a rough outline. Modern man often anxiously
wonders about the solution to the terrible tensions which have
built up in the world and which entangle humanity. And if at
times he lacks the courage to utter the word "mercy," or if in
his conscience empty of religious content he does not find the
equivalent, so much greater is the need for the Church to utter
his word, not only in her own name but also in the name of all
the men and women of our time.
Everything that I have said in the present document on mercy
should therefore be continually transformed into an ardent
prayer: into a cry that implores mercy according to the needs of
man in the modern world. May this cry be full of that truth
about mercy which has found such rich expression in Sacred
Scripture and in Tradition, as also in the authentic life of
faith of countless generations of the People of God. With this
cry let us, like the sacred writers, call upon the God who
cannot despise anything that He has made,136 the God who is
faithful to Himself, to His fatherhood and His love. And, like
the prophets, let us appeal to that love which has maternal
characteristics and which, like a mother, follows each of her
children, each lost sheep, even if they should number millions,
even if in the world evil should prevail over goodness, even if
contemporary humanity should deserve a new "flood" on account of
its sins, as once the generation of Noah did. Let us have
recourse to that fatherly love revealed to us by Christ in His
messianic mission, a love which reached its culmination in His
cross, in His death and resurrection. Let us have recourse to
God through Christ, mindful of the words of Mary's Magnificat,
which proclaim mercy "from generation to generation." Let us
implore God's mercy for the present generation. May the Church
which, following the example of Mary, also seeks to be the
spiritual mother of mankind, express in this prayer her maternal
solicitude and at the same time her confident love, that love
from which is born the most burning need for prayer.
Let us offer up our petitions, directed by the faith, by the
hope, and by the charity which Christ has planted in our hearts.
This attitude is likewise love of God, whom modern man has
sometimes separated far from himself, made extraneous to
himself, proclaiming in various ways that God is "superfluous."
This is, therefore, love of God, the insulting rejection of whom
by modern man we feel profoundly, and we are ready to cry out
with Christ on the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do."137 At the same time it is love of people, of
all men and women without any exception or division: without
difference of race, culture, language, or world outlook, without
distinction between friends and enemies. This is love for
people-it desires every true good for each individual and for
every human community, every family, every nation, every social
group, for young people, adults, parents, the elderly-a love for
everyone, without exception. This is love, or rather an anxious
solicitude to ensure for each individual every true good and to
remove and drive away every sort of evil.
And, if any of our contemporaries do not share the faith and
hope which lead me, as a servant of Christ and steward of the
mysteries of God,138 to implore God's mercy for humanity in this
hour of history, let them at least try to understand the reason
for my concern. It is dictated by love for man, for all that is
human and which, according to the intuitions of many of our
contemporaries, is threatened by an immense danger. The mystery
of Christ, which reveals to us the great vocation of man and
which led me to emphasize in the encyclical Redemptor hominis
his incomparable dignity, also obliges me to proclaim mercy as
God's merciful love, revealed in that same mystery of Christ. It
likewise obliges me to have recourse to that mercy and to beg
for it at this difficult, critical phase of the history of the
Church and of the world, as we approach the end of the second
millennium.
In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the spirit
of His messianic mission, enduring in the history of humanity,
we raise our voices and pray that the Love which is in the
Father may once again be revealed at this stage of history, and
that, through the work of the Son and Holy Spirit, it may be
shown to be present in our modern world and to be more powerful
than evil: more powerful than sin and death. We pray for this
through the intercession of her who does not cease to proclaim
"mercy...from generation to generation," and also through the
intercession of those for whom there have been completely
fulfilled the words of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."139
In continuing the great task of implementing the Second Vatican
Council, in which we can rightly see a new phase of the self-
realization of the Church-in keeping with the epoch in which it
has been our destiny to live-the Church herself must be
constantly guided by the full consciousness that in this work it
is not permissible for her, for any reason, to withdraw into
herself. The reason for her existence is, in fact, to reveal
God, that Father who allows us to "see" Him in Christ.140 No
matter how strong the resistance of human history may be, no
matter how marked the diversity of contemporary civilization, no
matter how great the denial of God in the human world, so much
the greater must be the Church's closeness to that mystery
which, hidden for centuries in God, was then truly shared with
man, in time, through Jesus Christ.
With my apostolic blessing.
Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the thirtieth day of November,
the First Sunday of Advent, in the year 1980, the third of the
pontificate.
JOHN PAUL II
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ENDNOTES
1. Eph. 2:4.
2. Cf. Jn. 1:18; Heb. 1:lf.
3. Jn. 14:8-9.
4. Eph. 2:4-5
5. 2 Cor 1:3.
6. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word,
Guadium et Spes no. 22: AAS 58 (1966), p. 1042.
7. Cf. ibid.
8. I Tm. 6:16.
9. Rom. 1:20.
10. Jn. 1:18.
11. I Tm. 6:16.
12. Ti. 3:4.
13. Eph.2:4.
14. Cf. Gn. 1:28.
15. GS 9:AAS 58 (1966), p. 1032.
16. 2 Cor. 1:3.
17. Mt. 6:4, 6, 18.
18. Cf. Eph. 3:18; also Lk 11:5-13.
19. Lk. 4:18-19.
20. Lk. 7:19.
21. Lk., :22-23.
22. I Jn. 4:16.
23. Eph. 2:4.
24. Lk. 15:11-32.
25. Lk. 10:30-37.
26.Mt. 18:23-35.
27. Mt. 18:12-14; Lk. 15:3-7.
28. Lk. 15:8-10.
29.Mt. 22:38.
30.Mt. 5:7.
31. Cf. Jgs. 3:7-9.
32. Cf. 1 Kgs. 8:22-53.
33. Cf. Mi.7:18-20.
34. Cf. Is. 1:18; 51:4-16.
35. Cf. Bar. 2:11-3, 8.
36. Cf. Neh. 9.
37. Cf. e.g., Hos. 2:21-25 and 15; Is.54:6-8.
38. Cf. Jer. 31:20; Ez. 39:25-29.
39. Cf. 2 Sm. 11; 12; 24:10.
40. Jb. passim.
41. Est. 4:17(k) ff.
42. Cf. e.g. Neh. 9:30-32; Tb. 3:2-3; 11-12; 8:16-17; 1 Mc.
4:24.
43. Cf. Ex. 3:7f.
44. Cf. Is. 63:9.[7]
45. Ex.34:6.
46. Cf. Nm. 14:18; 2 Chr. 30:9; Neh. 9:17; P[5]. 86 (85);
Wis.
47. Cf. Is. 63 16.
48. Cf. Ex.4:22.
49. Cf. Hos.2:3.
50. Cf. Hos 11:7-9; Jer. 31:20; Is. 54:7f.
51. Cf. Ps 103 (102) and 145 (144).
52. In describing mercy, the books of the Old Testament use
two expressions in particular, each having a different semantic
nuance. First there is the term hesed, which indicates a
profound attitude of goodness. When this is established between
two individuals, they do not just wish each other well; they are
also faithful to each other by virtue of an interior commitment,
and therefore also by virtue of a faithfulness to themselves.
Since hesed also means grace or love, this occurs
precisely on the basis of this fidelity. The fact that the
commitment in question has not only a moral character but almost
a juridical one makes no difference. When in the Old Testament
the word hesed is used of the Lord, this always occurs in
connection with the covenant that God established with Israel.
This covenant was, on God's part, a gift and a grace for Israel.
Nevertheless, since, in harmony with the covenant entered into,
God had made a commitment to respect it, hesed also
acquired in a certain sense a legal content. The juridical
commitment on God's part ceased to oblige whenever Israel broke
the covenant and did not respect its conditions. But precisely
at this point, hesed, in ceasing to be a juridical
obligation, revealed its deeper aspect: it showed itself as what
it was at the beginning, that is, as love that gives, love more
powerful than betrayal, grace stronger than sin.
This fidelity vis-à-vis the unfaithful "daughter of my
people" (cf. Lam. 4:3, 6) is, in brief, on God's part, fidelity
to himself. This becomes obvious in the frequent recurrence
together of the two terms hesed we've met (grace and
fidelity), which could be considered a case of hendiadys
(cf. e.g., Ex. 34:6; 2 Sm. 2:6; 15:20; Ps.
25(24):10;[40](39):11-12;[85] (84):11;[138](137):2; Mi.7:20).
"It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to
act, but for the sake of my holy name" (Ez. 36:22). Therefore
Israel, although burdened with guilt for having broken the
covenant, cannot lay claim to God's hesed on the basis of
(legal) justice; yet it can and must go on hoping and trusting
to obtain it, since the God of the covenant is really
"responsible for his love." The fruits of this love are
forgiveness and restoration to grace, the reestablishment of the
interior covenant.
The second word which in the terminology of the Old Testament
serves to define mercy is rahamim. This has a different
nuance from that of hesed. While hesed highlights
the marks of fidelity to self and of "responsibility for one's
own love" (which are in a certain sense masculine
characteristics), rahamim, in its very root, denotes the
love of a mother (rehem, mother's womb). From the deep
and original bond—indeed the unity—that 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: an exigency of the heart. It is, as it
were, a "feminine" variation of the masculine fidelity to self
expressed by hesed. Against this psychological
background, rahamin generates a whole range of feelings,
including goodness and tenderness, patience and understanding,
that is, readiness to forgive.
The Old Testament attributes to the Lord precisely these
characteristics, when it uses the term rahamim in
speaking of him. We read in Isaiah: "Can a woman forget her
sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of
her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Is.
49:15). This love, faithful and invincible thanks to the
mysterious power of motherhood, is expressed in the Old
Testament texts in various ways: as salvation from dangers,
especially from enemies; also as forgiveness of sins—of
individuals and also of the whole of Israel; and finally in
readiness to fulfill the (eschatological) promise and hope, in
spite of human infidelity, as we read in Hosea: "I will heal
their faithlessness, I will love them freely" (Hos. 14:5).
In the terminology of the Old Testament we also find other
expressions, referring in different ways to the same basic
content. But the two terms mentioned above deserve special
attention. They clearly show their original anthropomorphic
aspect: In describing God's mercy, the biblical authors use
terms that correspond to the consciousness and experience of
their contemporaries. The Greek terminology in the Septuagint
translation does not show as great a wealth as the Hebrew:
Therefore it does not offer all the semantic nuances proper to
the original text. At any rate the New Testament builds upon the
wealth and depth that already marked the Old.
In this way, we have inherited from the Old Testament—as it
were in a special synthesis—not only the wealth of expressions
used by those books in order to define God's mercy, but also a
specific and obviously anthropomorphic "psychology" of God: the
image of his anxious love, which in contact with evil, and in
particular with the sin of the individual and of the people, is
manifested as mercy. This image is made up not only of the
rather general content of the verb hanan but also of the
content of hesed and rahamim. The term hanan
expresses a wider concept: It means in fact the manifestation of
grace, which involves, so to speak, a constant predisposition to
be generous, benevolent and merciful.
In addition to these basic semantic elements, the Old
Testament concept of mercy is also made up of what is included
in the very hamal, which literally means to spare (a
defeated enemy) but also to show mercy and compassion, and in
consequence forgiveness and remission of guilt. There is also
the term hus. which expresses pity and compassion, but
especially in the affective sense. These terms appear more
rarely in the biblical texts to denote mercy. In addition, one
must note the word 'emet, already mentioned: It means
primarily solidity, security (in the Greek of the Septuagint:
truth) and then fidelity, and in this way it seems to link up
with the semantic content proper to the term hesed.
53. Ps. 40(39):11; 98(97):2f; Is. 45:21; 51:5, 8; 56:1.
54. Wis. 11:24.
55. I Jn. 4:16.
56. Jer. 31:3.
57. Is. 54:10.
58. Jon. 4:2, 11; Ps. 145(144):9; Sir. 18:8-14; Wis.
11:23-12:1.
59. Jn. 14:9.
60. In both places it is a case of hesed, i.e., the
fidelity that God manifests to his own love for the people,
fidelity to the promises that will find their definitive
fulfillment precisely in the motherhood of the mother of God
(cf. Lk. 1:49-54).
61. Cf. Lk. 1:72. Here too it is a case of mercy in the
meaning of hesed, insofar as in the following sentences,
in which Zechariah speaks of the "tender mercy of our God,"
there is clearly expressed the second meaning, namely rahamim
(Latin translation: visera misericordiae), which rather
identifies God's mercy with a mother's love.
62. Cf. Lk. 15:14-32.
63. Lk. 15:18-19.
64. Lk. 15:20.
65. Lk. 15:32.
66. Cf. Lk. 15:3-6.
67. Cf. Lk. 15:8-9.
68. I Cor. 13:4-8.
69. Cf. Rom. 12:21.
70. Cf. the liturgy of the Easter Vigil: the Exsultet.
71. Acts 10:38.
72. Mt. 9:35.
73. Cf. Mk. 15:37; Jn. 19:30.
74. Is. 53:5.
75. 2 Cor. 5:21.
76. Ibid.
77. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
78. Jn. 3:16.
79. Cf. Jn. 14:9.
80. Mt. 10:28.
81. Phil. 2:8.
82. 2 Cor. 5:21.
83. Cf. I Cor. 15:54-55.
84. Cf. Lk. 4:18-21.
85. Cf. Lk. 7:20-23.
86. Cf. Is. 35:5; 61:1-3.
87. I Cor. 15:4.
88. Rv. 21:1.
89. Rv. 2 1 :4.
90. Cf. Rv. 21:4.
91. Rv. 3:20.
92. Cf. Mt. 24:35.
93. Cf. Rv. 3:20.
94. Mt. 25:40.
95. Mt. 5:7.
96. Jn. 14:9.
97. Rom. 8:32.
98. Mk. 12:27.
99. Jn. 20:19-23.
100. Ps.89(88):2.
101. Lk, 1:50.
102. Cf. 2 Cor. 1:21-22.
103. Lk, 1:50.
104. Cf. Ps. 85(84):11.
105. Lk. 1:50.
106. Cf. Lk. 4:18.
107. Cf. Lk, 7:22
108. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium,
no. 62: AAS (1965), p.63.
109. GS, no. 10: AAS 58 (1966), p. 1032.
110. Ibid.
111. Mt. 5:38.
112. Cf. Jn. 14:9-10.
113. Jn. 14:9.
114. Cf. I Cor. 11:26; acclamation in the Roman Missal.
115. Jn. 3:16.
116. I Jn. 4:8.
117. Cf. I Cor. 13:4
118. 2 Cor. 1:3.
119. Rom. 8:26.
120. Mt. 5:7.
121. Cf. Mt. 25:34-40.
122. Cf. I Cor. 13:4.
123. Cf. Lk. 15:11-32.
124. Cf. Lk. 15:1-10.
125. Cf. Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, XIII (1975), p.
1568 (close of Holy Year, Dec. 25, 1975).
126. Mt 5:38.
127. Cf. GS. no. 40 AAS 58 (1966), pp. 1057-1059; Pope Paul
VI: apostolic exhortation Paterna cum Benevolentia, in
particular nos. 1-6:AAS 67 (1975), pp. 7-9, 17-23.
128. Cf. I Jn. 2:16.
129. Mt. 6:12.
130. Eph. 4:2, cf. Gal. 6:2.
131. Mt. 18:22.
132. Cf. Lk. 15:32.
133. Cf. Is. 12:3.
134. Mt. 10:8.
135. Cf. Heb. 5:7.
136. Cf. Wis. 11:24; Ps. 145(144):9, Gn. 1:31.
137. Lk. 23:34.
138. Cf. I Cor. 4:1.
139. Mt. 5:7.
140. Cf. Jn. 14:9.
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Mary
Copyright © 2006 SCTJM
