Meditations on Mercy - April 24th, 2016

Meditations on Mercy

Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 24, 2016

 


I also saw the holy city… prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.   Rev 21:2
 “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jn 13:34

It’s hard to believe that God uses something as ordinary as marriage as a symbol of our eternal destiny, but that’s what we see throughout scripture. Today’s second reading depicts the Church “as a bride adorned for her husband,” while Jesus in the Gospel calls us to love one another as He has loved us. Jesus shows how to love, giving His life for His bride without counting the cost, purifying her to prepare her for their eternal divine union as one body. 

Jesus calls His followers to have that same radical, self-giving love for one another. This is not an easy commandment but with God, all things are possible. Yet when we do fail to love, God, who is “rich in mercy,” picks us up, dusts us off, and wipes away our tears in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, making all things new again. There in the confessional, the merciful Jesus waits for you: trust in Him, go to Him, and forgiveness is yours.
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in mercy. Ps 145:8
 
 

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