After recalling Jesus’ cruel and humiliating Passion and death last Friday, today we rejoice in his glorious resurrection. This year the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of our salvation and new life takes place within the context of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. We look therefore at the merciful dimension within the Paschal Mystery.
In the biblical narrative of the Passion, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him three times (Lk 22:34) and that all the disciples would fall away (Mk 14:27). When Peter did, in fact, thrice deny knowing Jesus, the by-then arrested “Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s words… and he went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 21:61-62). Judas had left Jesus, betrayed him and was then gripped by despair; Peter by contrast must have felt already then, in that look, the depth of Jesus’ mercy.
Besides Peter, we hear no more of the apostles during the Passion. They vanish. The evangelist John places himself at the foot of the Cross, where the dying Lord says to Mary “this is your son” (Jn 19:26); we are entrusted to her as her sons and daughters. John is the figure of the Church that from the Crucified Lord receives God’s infinite mercy in the form of His blessed Mother.
Jesus’ delicate mercy carries over to Easter Sunday. He appears first in his risen glory to Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11-18) charging her with telling his “brothers” (v. 17) of his coming Ascension. He also appears to the disciples going to Emmaus, transforming their depressive mood into one of joy and enthusiasm (Lk 24:13-35).
There are on Easter Sunday two other apparitions in which the Risen Jesus’ mercy particularly shines through. First of all, Jesus appears individually to Peter (Lk 24:34). No biblical text describes this very personal encounter, but clearly it was a show of mercy towards Peter the sinner, and a way of reassuring him that the Risen Lord had truly pardoned and gone beyond Peter’s abject, public infidelity.
The mercy God offers has a transformative effect on those who open themselves to it. It paves the way for those who receive mercy to become themselves bearers of mercy
Likewise, Christ’s apparition to the fearful apostles on Easter Sunday afternoon (Jn 20:19-23; Lk 24:36-43) must be seen as an eminently merciful reaffirmation by Jesus of the group he had called and formed for about three years: they had, in a cowardly manner, abandoned him in his hour of need. This surely hurt Jesus deeply during the Passion; now it is almost as if it had never happened. Easter is the triumph of divine mercy towards the apostles, bringing peace, joy and new life.
Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), showed us His mercy at its fullest when He sent His only son into the world to reveal His love in a definitive way. Jesus, by his words, his actions and his entire person, reveals the mercy of God (Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus, nr 1).
The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, the incarnate son of God, are the most decisive breakthrough of God’s merciful love, now extended to everyone. The mercy He offers there has a transformative effect on those who open themselves to it. It paves the way for those who receive mercy to become themselves bearers of mercy.
We are empowered to be loving disciples of the merciful Risen Christ through the so-called corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These are essentially acts of bountiful love.
The corporate works of mercy involve offering help to one’s neighbour on a material level (feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and so forth – cf. Mt 25: 35-36); in our days this also means caring for today’s poor and for refugees.
The spiritual works of mercy evidently include pardon of those who offend us: this is perhaps the most difficult form of mercy, but Jesus taught it (Mt 6:12; Mt 18:21-35) and practised it himself on the Cross (Lk 23:34). Other spiritual works of mercy include counsel to the doubtful, praying for others, comforting the afflicted and teaching others about the faith.
Fr Robert Soler is a member of the Society of Jesus.