In a short time the whole Church will begin the Jubilee of Mercy called for by Pope Francis. While it can be said that every year is a year of mercy with God, this year there is an added emphasis on this one aspect of our faith. Part of the motivation for calling the jubilee is so that all members of the Church may better reflect the Father’s own mercy in the world. In order to grow in my ability to do this, I must first reflect on the role God’s mercy plays in my life and my appreciation for it.
As is often the case, we have a tendency to take for granted those things which we’ve grown accustomed to or which we perceive as ordinary. Even something as extraordinary as God’s mercy can go unappreciated or overlooked. It may begin with subtle thoughts: I know that God will always forgive me, I know that I can go to confession, I know that His mercy is always there. All of these are true statements and yet if we only focus on these aspects of His mercy we can begin to slowly lose a sense of the incredible gift it is.
Appreciation for it means that I always approach it with tremendous gratitude, recognizing it as something He’s never forced to offer us, but which is offered out of Love. Mercy by its very nature is not something that can be demanded — it is always a free gift bestowed by the one showing it. If it could be demanded it would cease to be a gift and become instead a matter of justice — something I am owed. God would become my servant instead of my Lord.
In our moral and spiritual lives there can be several obstacles to truly seeing and receiving God’s mercy as a free Gift. One common obstacle is called presumption.
In presumption I convince myself that I am automatically forgiven. I don’t make much of an effort to avoid sin because God’s forgiveness is already presumed.
True repentance from the heart begins to be replaced with a mechanical going through the motions of saying we’re sorry. In fact, I may cease reflecting on my sins or examining my conscience at all since “God will just forgive me.” I may convince myself that I don’t really have to go to confession because “God already knows my sins.”
God’s mercy and His offer of forgiveness almost become excuses as to why we don’t have to engage in the difficult work of true conversion and repentance. We see how this can wreak havoc on a proper appreciation of the gift of God’s mercy and the necessary response to His grace on our part. I begin to approach mercy with a sense of entitlement. Why bother with the effort required to change sinful behavior if God just forgives but never calls to repentance?
Another form of presumption may creep in especially for people who struggle with habitual sins. There may begin to be little effort made to resist them because, “I’ll just go to confession tomorrow.” As before, even if His mercy is still acknowledged, it ceases to be truly appreciated as a gift but begins to be treated almost as an excuse not to resist temptation in the first place.
This has an effect not only in our relationship with God’s mercy, but ultimately makes true conversion of the heart nearly impossible. That being said, this is something very different than struggling with a habitual sin and having recourse to confession when we fall or as a means to eventually overcome it.
Recognizing mercy as a tremendous gift that God offers begins by acknowledging our own need for it, His freedom in offering it, and our gratitude in receiving it. Perhaps during this Jubilee reflecting on our own relationship with God’s mercy is a useful place to begin.