Diane Reagan

“‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13b)

Pope Francis proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy on December 8, 2015 to run through November 20, 2016. When he opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s in Rome to begin the Year of Mercy, he said, “To enter through the Holy Door means to rediscover the deepness of the mercy of the Father, who welcomes all and goes out to meet everyone personally.”   

During my visit to Rome last year during the Jubilee Year of Hope I learned that passing through a Holy Door in Rome is a reminder of God’s mercy—that through faith and repentance, we move from sin to a state of grace and God’s divine mercy.  The Holy Doors of the four basilicas in Rome are only opened during Jubilee years.^[1]  

At the end of our pilgrimage in Italy last year our tour guide gave each of us a wooden Tau cross that he had purchased in Assisi a few days earlier.  He had carried the crosses in his backpack through the four Holy Doors in Rome that we all passed through. When I wear that cross, I am reminded that because of God’s great love for me, and the sacrifice of his Son, I can move from sin to God’s infinite mercy through faith on a regular basis. 

Next Sunday’s Scripture texts^[2] remind us that God desires love, mercy from us, not sacrifice. Hosea, whose suffering over his unfaithful wife mirrored God’s suffering over the unfaithfulness of Israel, wrote these words from God: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea. 5:6).  God wants our genuine love, not lip service.  The Message translation explains it this way: “I’m after love that lasts, not mere religion.  I want you to know God, not to go to more prayer meetings.”  Our God wants a relationship with us, not empty gestures.  He wants us to express our faith by being loving and merciful to those around us. He wants us to be mindful and merciful, not mindless and unforgiving.

Jesus quotes Hosea in responding to the Pharisees who criticized him for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners: ‘’‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13b). Authentic faith gives rise to a merciful heart.  

In the epistle lesson, Paul explains that even Abraham was justified by faith—putting to bed the notion that Christianity invented the concept of grace and mercy: “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4:13).  

In his Commentary on Romans, Martin Luther explained “Christ’s death is the death of sin, and His Resurrection is the raising up of righteousness. For by His death Christ has atoned for our sins, and through His resurrection He has procured for us righteousness.” ^[3] The reason that God does not demand sacrifices from us is because Jesus sacrificed himself for us; he paid our debt. 

Mercy is God’s response to a sinful people.  Mathew Schmalz quotes one of Pope Francis’ writings during the Jubilee Year of Mercy: “‘Jesus Christ is the face of God’s mercy.’  Mercy is what connects human beings and God, ‘opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.’”^[4]  As we have received God’s infinite love and mercy, so we are called to show mercy to others. 

Throughout the gospels, Jesus demonstrated acts of mercy such as the account by Matthew in this week’s gospel lesson when he socialized with “tax collectors and sinners.”  As a tax collector, Matthew was reviled by everyone, thus his understanding of Jesus’ mercy in calling him to discipleship.  

Jesus calls all of us sinners to follow him.  We are called to be God’s instruments of mercy in the world.  

Prayer: Merciful God, we praise and thank you for sacrificing your Son for the redemption of our sins; we praise and thank you for all mercies you have given us, and we pray that we can be your instruments of mercy to those who we meet in our everyday lives.  Forgive us and open our hearts to your love so that we can be conduits of your love.  We ask these things through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. 

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

^[1] The four churches in Rome with Holy Doors are St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican; Archbasilica of St. John Lateran; Basilica of St. Mary Major: Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

^[2] The Scripture texts for next Sunday are Hosea 5:15-6:6; Psalm 119:65-72; Romans 4: 13-25; Matthew 9: 9-13.

^[3] Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, translated by J. Theodore Mueller, Zondervan (1954), p. 87

^[4] Mathew N. Schmalz, Mercy Matters, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing (2016), p.7.