“Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.” – Psalm 103:8
God our Father is merciful. That is the key theme of this Jubilee Year. It is a central message of Lent too. But, the fact that God is merciful also says something about you and me. We are sinners. If we were not, then there would be no need for God to be merciful in the first place!
This is why Lent is simultaneously the season of mercy and of penance. The two go hand in hand. We can only receive God’s constant offer of mercy if we first admit our own sinfulness. Unfortunately, many voices in our modern world have tried to convince us that there is no such thing as sin.
G.K. Chesterton addressed this phenomenon in the second chapter of his book Orthodoxy. He observed that, until recently, both believers and non-believers acknowledged the reality of sin, simply because there were so many examples of the presence of evil in our world. So, when many modern thinkers began to doubt the reality of sin itself, Chesterton proposed the following analogy, with his characteristic wit, to refute their irrationality:
If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.
Indeed, sin exists, and its second name is separation. It is the divide between God and humanity, a broken relationship. The good news is that God’s mercy is greater than sin. He longs to restore us to communion. He doesn’t want us to simply know His mercy – He wants us to participate in it! That is where penance comes in. Penance allows us to first acknowledge our sins and then return to loving God again.
Penance also helps us love one another better. It restores the human relationships we have inevitably injured with our sins. Consider how praying for someone else can help eliminate our selfishness and jealousy. Likewise, imagine how giving food to the hungry can help us combat our own gluttony and greed.
As you can see, acts of penance are themselves acts of mercy! Let’s repent and put the Good News of God’s love into action.
Merciful Father, we have sinned against you. Look not upon our faults, but upon our faith. Restore us to right relationship with you and with each other. Help us to do penance and love one another once again. Amen.
