Happy Easter, everyone! May I ask: Do we need more justice in our lives or more mercy? Think about it this way: Do we want God to be more challenging to us, holding us to a higher standard, or gentler and more forgiving to us?
A rich man living a party-kind of lifestyle once met a Missionary of Charity in India, working in the slums. He asked how she could be happy living in such filth. She asked him how he could be happy living in his filth; she said that his lifestyle was dirtier than the city. He was angry. But those words haunted him and helped lead him back to Jesus—and he’s happy about that! Would this kind of tough love help us?
What about the story of Jane Brennan? Abused as a child, felt unlovable, drinking at ten, marijuana at twelve, sex at 18, followed by two abortions. She became an anti-Catholic feminist. But when her husband decided to go back to Church, she went to Mass and felt, ‘I’m finally home.’ Then she went to Confession and felt loved. Would something like this help us?
Let’s look at today’s Gospel: “It was evening on the day Jesus rose from the dead… Jesus came and stood among them [the disciples] and said, ‘Peace be with you… As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (Jn 20:19,21-23). Jesus states that their relationship with God the Father is now at peace—that reconciliation is something they must offer to others. I personally love today’s celebration, called Divine Mercy Sunday, because God’s mercy changed my life, and I want you to experience that mercy.
By breathing on them, Jesus is doing what happened in Genesis: At the beginning of creation, God breathed life into Adam. So, this is a new creation. To pass on this new creation to others, Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit because He’s the giver of new life. Finally, to re-create new spiritual life, they’re given authority to forgive sins and not to forgive sins.
Let’s explain this. Forgiving sins obviously helps people. However, sometimes letting people know that their apologies aren’t sincere also helps. A man named Jonathan said this, “My Dad never admits he was wrong. He’ll blame my mom, my brother, me, the weather, traffic. It’s always someone else’s fault. Even when he says ‘I’m sorry’ what he really means is ‘I’m sorry you made me do it.’ Just for once, I’d love to hear him admit he was wrong” (Gary Chapman, 5: A Teen’s Guide to the 5 Love Languages, 104). A woman named Abby says, “My boyfriend flirts with other girls. Like openly flirts. He claims he’s just being friendly. What upsets me most is that he does it over and over again. We talk it through, he apologizes, he promises never to do it again, and then he does it again” (106). We always offer forgiveness, but people won’t receive forgiveness until they repent.
A few weeks ago, in the Gospel, the Pharisees thought they had a good relationship with God but were fooling themselves. So, Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (Jn 9:41). Jesus says their sins aren’t forgiven because they don’t take responsibility for their sins—that’s His love trying to wake them up.
This is why, if we go to Confession and have no intention of stopping our sins, then we’re not really sorry. The priest is first supposed to help us, but, if we insist, e.g., ‘I’m not going to promise to try to go to Sunday Mass. I’m too busy,’ then the priest is not supposed to give absolution. This is love, designed to make us reflect on our relationship with Jesus. By the way, this situation is rare, and different from being sincere in Confession, trying our best, then falling again.
Remember this book: God Help Me! These People Are Driving Me Nuts! It provides steps on when to draw limits in relationships. If someone in our lives repeatedly hurts us, maybe the most loving thing to do is to offer them more justice.
According to philosophy and theology, God has no attributes. You know how we say that God is love? We don’t say He has love, but is love. In the same way, God doesn’t have mercy, He is mercy; He doesn’t have justice, He is justice. In Him, mercy and justice are one; they are expressions of Who He is. And they come to us depending on what God knows we need. We experience God’s love as justice or as mercy depending on what is ultimately good for us.
Have we heard this saying? Before sin, remember God’s justice. After sin, remember God’s mercy. If we’re doing well spiritually, think that God deserves more love! He died and rose for us, so now is the time to love Him more and follow His commandments. But, let’s say we’ve committed a mortal sin, then think about His mercy; He won’t reject us, but will forgive us.
What does the devil do? Before sin, remember God’s mercy. The devil says, ‘God loves you. There’s no such thing as mortal sin. Hell is made up by the Church. God would never send anyone to hell. Contraception is just a Church teaching—Jesus never said anything about that. Homosexual actions—what’s wrong with two people loving each other?’ After sin, remember God’s justice: ‘It’s embarrassing to go to Confession. I used to go but it doesn’t work.’
So, how do we know if thoughts are coming from God or if we’re deceiving ourselves? Look at the fruit. If, over time, we pray more, our service increases, and our sins are becoming less frequent, we’re on the right track.
Today, let’s ask the Holy Spirit for either more justice or more mercy. Someone once came up to me after Mass and told me of her repeated failures. I asked, ‘What would help you to love Jesus more, knowing that He wants you to try harder, or that He loves you in spite of your struggles?’ She teared up, and said that knowing Jesus loves in spite of repeated falls made her want to spend more time with Him. Clearly, that is what He wanted her to hear.
I too often need to hear God’s voice of mercy. However, sometimes I need to hear the call to love and give Him more. He’s done everything for me and I owe Him more sacrifice.
Whether we receive justice or mercy, it leads to sharing His love with everyone. In six weeks, we’re going to do our second annual Pentecost Challenge, asking: ‘Have I placed Jesus’ mission at the center of my identity?’ There are three ways we relate to His mission of love: Either it’s not part of our identity, is a part of it, or it’s at the center. When we make the decision to place His mission at the center of our identity, we’re always looking for ways to bring Him to others, at home, at work, everywhere.
Because of God’s justice, He’s called me to love Him perfectly—that’s a gift, but I fail at it. And because of His mercy, Jesus died for me and gave me His life. I feel so loved that I want everyone to encounter Him