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In the family we have identity, we have value
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January 29, 2016
Most Reverend Michael Mulvey is bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
The Holy Father, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has called for an Extraordinary Year of Mercy. It is extraordinary because it is out of sync with the normal 25-five year intervals for holy years, but also because of the EXTRA-ordinary theme of Mercy. We hear the word mercy in the first part of our Liturgy repeated many, many times. "Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy." "May almighty God have mercy on us."
Mercy is at the very heart of who God is, and therefore at the very heart of who we are, created in his image and likeness. God is love. God is mercy. None of us can fully comprehend mercy in this life. We will understand when we meet mercy—God—face-to-face.
Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus Christ is the face of the father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. In a special way these words of the Holy Father bring us to another dimension of our understanding of faith.
As we live this year, it is important for all of us to repeat to ourselves, “Jesus Christ is Mercy.” And that is the great discovery of the Christian faith. And it is the great source of living as Jesus. We oftentimes hear the phrase, “What would Jesus do (WWJD)?” But there is a bigger question. There is a bigger context for this Year of Mercy and that is, “What does Jesus want of you and me?”
We can respond to a situation like Jesus (WWJD), but we then move on to something else. This is not who we are. This does not define us. In that framework we could be part-time Christians. What does Jesus want of his Body? What does he want of me, of us? That is the real question. He wants us to show mercy as he has shown mercy. That is what he wants from each one of us.
The Christian life is often described as a pilgrimage with Jesus. There is no better place for this pilgrimage to be lived out than in the family. The tragedy of our society today is the disintegration of the family. When the family disintegrates, love disintegrates. When the family disintegrates and mercy diminishes the impact on society and social behavior is tragic. And, so during this year it should be our strong desire as a Church to rebuild the family through mercy.
A few weeks ago, a man was found dead on the street near Sacred Heart Church in Corpus Christi. He was described in the media as a "vagrant," as homeless. Listen to the words: homeless, vagrant. Without family we could say. We found out later that he was a regular visitor at Mother Teresa Shelter.
Sister Rose, who oversees the Mother Teresa Shelter, told me his name was Chris, and that he came everyday to Mother Teresa for breakfast and lunch. He often spent all day there. He was a strong presence, helpful, quiet, kind and studious. A vagrant? Homeless? Or Chris?
During a prayer service on the afternoon of his death the residents spoke of him and how important he was to them. They had hoped he would be able to overcome his situation and make something of his life. There, in that community, he was not a vagrant. He was not homeless. He was Chris. He was the face of Christ.
Why does that experience help us reflect on the family and mercy: because, in the family we are not nameless. In the family we have an identity. In the family we have value and we are affirmed. In the family we discover our potential, we know who we are and what God wants us to be. In the family we have dignity. In the family we are loved. In the family we find mercy. In the family we express mercy. In the family we experience Jesus Christ, the face of God’s mercy.
And so the question, “What would Jesus do?” is short term. What does Jesus want is what frames our life. He wants us to put God first in our life, to decrease our ego in order to increase the life of grace in us.
God is everything. His mercy is rich in Jesus Christ.
