>>DIVINE
MERCY
APOSTOLATE .... Come Back To Me >>> DMA FaceBook
. BIBLE . Diary . Rich in Mercy [ I ] [ II ] [ III ] [ IV ] [ V ] [ VI ] [ VII ] [ VIII ]
|
IOANNES PAULUS PP. II |
|
III. THE OLD TESTAMENT 4. The Concept of
"Mercy" in the Old Testament The
concept of "mercy" in the Old Testament has a long and rich
history. We have to refer back to it in order that the mercy revealed by
Christ may shine forth more clearly. By revealing that mercy both through His
actions and through His teaching, Christ addressed Himself to people who not
only knew the concept of mercy, but who also, as the People of God of the Old
Covenant, had drawn from their age - long history a special experience of the
mercy of God. This experience was social and communal, as well as individual
and interior. Israel
was, in fact, the people of the covenant
with God, a covenant that it broke
many times. Whenever it became aware of its infidelity - and in the history of Israel there was no lack of
prophets and others who awakened this awareness-it appealed to mercy. In this
regard, the books of the Old Testament give us very many examples. Among the
events and texts of greater importance one may recall: the beginning of the
history of the Judges,31
the prayer of Solomon at the
inauguration of the Temple,32
part of the prophetic work of Micah,33
the consoling assurances given by Isaiah,34
the cry of the Jews in exile,35
and the renewal of the covenant after the return from exile.36 It
is significant that in their preaching the prophets link mercy, which they
often refer to because of the people's sins, with the incisive image of love
on God's part. The Lord loves Israel with the love of a special choosing,
much like the love of a spouse,37 and for this reason He pardons its
sins and even its infidelities and
betrayals. When He finds repentance and true conversion, He brings His people back
to grace.38 In the preaching of the prophets,
mercy signifies a special power of love, which prevails over the sin and infidelity
of the chosen people. In
this broad "social"
context, mercy appears as a correlative to the interior experience of
individuals languishing in a state of guilt or enduring every kind of
suffering and misfortune. Both physical evil and moral evil, namely sin, cause the sons and daughters of
Israel to turn to the Lord and beseech His mercy. In this way David turns to Him, conscious of the
seriousness of his guilt39; Job
too, after his rebellion, turns to Him in his tremendous misfortune40;
so also does Esther, knowing the
mortal threat to her own people.41 And we find still other examples in
the books of the Old Testament.42 At
the root of this many-sided conviction, which is both communal and personal,
and which is demonstrated by the whole of the Old Testament down the
centuries, is the basic experience of the chosen people at the Exodus: the
Lord saw the affliction of His people reduced to slavery, heard their cry, knew their sufferings and decided to
deliver them.43 In this act of salvation by the Lord,
the prophet perceived his love and
compassion.44 This is precisely the grounds upon
which the people and each of its members based their certainty of the mercy
of God, which can be invoked whenever tragedy strikes. Added
to this is the fact that sin too constitutes man's misery. The people of the Old Covenant experienced this misery
from the time of the Exodus, when
they set up the golden calf. The Lord Himself triumphed over this act of
breaking the covenant when He solemnly declared to Moses that He was a "God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."45 It is in this central revelation that
the chosen people, and each of its members, will find, every time that they
have sinned, the strength and the motive for turning to the Lord to remind
Him of what He had exactly revealed about Himself46 and to beseech His forgiveness. Thus,
in deeds and in words, the Lord revealed His mercy from the very beginnings
of the people which He chose for Himself; and, in the course of its history,
this people continually entrusted itself, both when stricken with misfortune
and when it became aware of its sin, to the God of mercies. All the
subtleties of love become manifest in the Lord's mercy towards those who are
His own: He is their Father,47 for Israel is His firstborn son48; the Lord is also the bridegroom of
her whose new name the prophet proclaims: Ruhamah, "Beloved" or "she has obtained pity."49 Even
when the Lord is exasperated by the infidelity of His people and thinks of
finishing with it, it is still His tenderness and generous love for those who
are His own which overcomes His anger.50 Thus it is easy to understand why the
psalmists, when they desire to sing the highest praises of the Lord, break
forth into hymns to the God of love, tenderness, mercy and fidelity.51 From
all this it follows that mercy does not pertain only to the notion of God,
but it is something that characterizes the life of the whole people of Israel
and each of its sons and daughters: mercy is the content of intimacy with
their Lord, the content of their dialogue with Him. Under precisely this
aspect, mercy is presented in the individual books of the Old Testament with
a great richness of expression. It may be difficult to find in these books a
purely theoretical answer to the question of what mercy is in itself. Nevertheless, the terminology that is used is in
itself able to tell us much about this subject.52 The
Old Testament proclaims the mercy of the Lord by the use of many terms with
related meanings; they are differentiated by their particular content, but it
could be said that they all converge from different directions on one single
fundamental content, to express its surpassing richness and at the same time
to bring it close to man under different aspects. The Old Testament
encourages people suffering from misfortune, especially those weighed down by
sin - as also the whole of Israel, which had entered into the covenant with
God - to appeal for mercy, and enables them to count upon it: it reminds them
of His mercy in times of failure and loss of trust. Subsequently, the Old
Testament gives thanks and glory for mercy every time that mercy is made
manifest in the life of the people or in the lives of individuals. In
this way, mercy is in a certain sense contrasted with God's justice, and in
many cases is shown to be not only more powerful than that justice but also
more profound. Even the Old Testament teaches that, although justice is an
authentic virtue in man, and in God signifies transcendent
perfection nevertheless love is "greater"
than justice: greater in the sense that it is primary and fundamental. Love, so to speak, conditions justice
and, in the final analysis, justice serves love. The primacy and
superiority of love vis-a-vis
justice - this is a mark of the whole of revelation - are revealed precisely
through mercy. This seemed so obvious to the psalmists and prophets that the
very term justice ended up by meaning the salvation accomplished by the Lord
and His mercy.53 Mercy differs from justice, but is
not in opposition to it, if we admit in the history of man - as the Old
Testament precisely does-the presence of God, who already as Creator has
linked Himself to His creature with a particular love. Love, by its very
nature, excludes hatred and ill - will towards the one to whom He once gave
the gift of Himself: Nihil odisti
eorum quae fecisti,
"you hold nothing of what you
have made in abhorrence."54 These words indicate the profound
basis of the relationship between justice and mercy in God, in His relations
with man and the world. They tell us that we must seek the life-giving roots
and intimate reasons for this relationship by going back to "the
beginning," in the very mystery of creation. They foreshadow in the
context of the Old Covenant the full revelation of God, who is "love."55 Connected with the mystery of creation is the mystery of the election, which in a special way shaped the history of the people whose spiritual father is Abraham by virtue of his faith. Nevertheless, through this people which journeys forward through the history both of the Old Covenant and of the New, that mystery of election refers to every man and woman, to the whole great human family. "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."56 "For the mountains may depart...my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed."57 This truth, once proclaimed to Israel, involves a perspective of the whole history of man, a perspective both temporal and eschatological.58 Christ reveals the Father within the framework of the same perspective and on ground already prepared, as many pages of the Old Testament writings demonstrate. At the end of this revelation, on the night before He dies, He says to the apostle Philip these memorable words: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me...? He who has seen me has seen the Father."59 |
I. HE WHO SEES ME
SEES THE FATHER
IV. THE PARABLE
OF THE PRODIGAL SON
VI. "MERCY...FROM
GENERATION TO GENERATION"
VII. THE MERCY
OF GOD IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
VIII. THE
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH IN OUR TIMES
>>DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE
Diary Come Back To Me Rich in Mercy
MHII 230613