Manifesting the mercy of God

Before His own townspeople, in Nazareth, Christ refers to the words of the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk 4:18-19). This, according to Luke, was the first messianic declaration. This declaration was followed by Jesus’ preaching and His actions whereby He made the heavenly Father present among them.

It is significant that the people in question are especially the poor, those without means of subsistence, those deprived of their freedom, the blind who cannot see the beauty of creation, those living with broken hearts, or suffering from social injustice, and finally sinners. It is especially for these last that the Messiah becomes a particularly clear sign of God who is love, a sign of the Father. In this visible sign, the people of our own time, just like the people then, can see the Father.

It is significant that, when the messengers sent by John the Baptist came to Jesus to ask Him: "Are you He who is to come or shall we look for another?", He answered by referring to the same testimony with which He had began His teaching at Nazareth. "Go and tell John what it is that you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life." He then ended with the words: "And blessed is he who takes no offense at Me" (Lk 7:22-23).

Especially through His lifestyle and through His actions, Jesus revealed that love is present in the world in which we live – an effective love, a love that addresses itself to man and embraces everything that makes up his humanity. This love makes itself particularly noticed in contact with suffering, injustice and poverty – in contact with the whole "human condition" which in various ways manifests man’s limitations and frailty, both physical and moral. It is precisely the mode and sphere in which love manifest itself that in biblical language is called mercy."

Christ, then reveals God who is Father, who is Love, as Saint John will express it in his First Letter" (1 Jn 4:16); Christ reveals God as "rich in mercy", as we read in Saint Paul (Eph 2:4). This truth is not just the subject of a teaching, it is a reality made present to us by Christ. Making the Father present as love and mercy, is, in Christ’s own consciousness, the fundamental touchstone of the mission as the Messiah; this is confirmed by the words that he uttered first in the synagogue at Nazareth and later in the presence of His disciples and of John the Baptist’s messengers.

Mercy is a profound attitude of goodness. It is a second name for love. And includes faithfulness, grace, a content of intimacy with the Lord. The mercy of God is all understanding, most tender, and utterly forgiving for he is Love who is more powerful than any betrayal, any sin. The truth revealed in Christ, about God the "Father of mercies", enables us to see Him as particularly close to man, especially when man is suffering, when he is under threat at the very heart of His existence and dignity.

That is the reason why, in today’s Gospel Jesus spoke bluntly to the Pharisees who questioned his company of tax-collectors and sinners, "I did not come to call the just but the sinners… I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Mt 9:13). For over and above all God’s works is God’s mercy.

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Matthew 9:9-13.