Mercy On Line

       Anyone who has traveled by plane over the last month has surely had to deal with the daunting, almost never-ending lines through the security check points. Situations like that can easily lead a person to feel annoyed at the process, or get frustrated when the potential of missing their flights seems imminent. Having done a lot f traveling recently, I can surely understand those frustrations over the maze like journey.  Nevertheless, my recent participation at the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta helped to remind me that there are many things in life that require the virtue of patience.

        There were also long lines at the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta, Georgia held the weekend of June 3-4. I watched has many people waited on them for very long periods of time and not once did they get annoyed or frustrated. Why were they on line? To receive God’s mercy.  Hundreds in maze lines waited patiently to receive the sacrament of reconciliation after meeting Jesus in Adoration and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  The theme of the Congress was in accord with the Jubilee Year of Mercy, “Be Merciful, Just as Your Father is Merciful”.  This theme and watching the intricacy of the lines for reconciliation move in the convention center helped to serve as a reminder that we must be patient to receive what God has for us. Whether it is to ensure safety for flying or to be given the grace of His mercy, having patience as we wait is a sign of our commitment and faith to let God work in our lives in His time.

   

     Br. Simon Song and I met ran the vocation booth offering opportunities for games, lively conversation, literature, and providing new souvenirs such as back packs and lanyards. Some of those who visited us came back as many as five times just to hang out. The family-like atmosphere created by the Eucharistic Congress made it that much easier for us to meet with and promote vocations. Many of those working in neighboring booths expressed their gratitude for all the effort and energy we shared with the youth.  

Mercy: The Door Opener to Love

As a pilgrim preparing for the Easter event, I was prompted to ask during my reflections, “How are we to intentionally live mercy during Lent?”  For sure, Pope Francis’ document, The Face of Mercy is a guide to help us along that journey, but what more are we called to do to show love, compassion, and mercy in our daily actions? In the section on parables, Francis indicates how far God went to forgive in the story of the father with two sons (Luke 15: 11-31). The prodigal son returned after squandering away all that he had and losing himself to ask for his father's mercy and forgiveness. His second son, who had remained at home anf followed his father's wil, became upset at the open embrace and immediate forgiveness shown to his brother who had done so much wrong.  How did the father leave the door of mercy open for both of his sons? While the father welcomed back his wayward son, the door remained open for the older son who resented the Father’s welcome-back attitude.  For sure, God’s mercy is “tailor made” for us all just as it was for each son in their own situation.

While we don’t know the full outcome of the older son’s bitter attitude, our Lenten journey is a time for us to complete the story of the father and the two sons by looking into our own bitter tendencies.  Being bitter creates a stumbling block to receive and bestow God’s mercy.  Although we might have good reason to resent those who have wronged us, mercy invites us to temper our bitterness so that we can be freed up to sow mercy and reap the benefits of love.

John of the Cross voices the greatest motive for opening our hearts to mercy is that Mercy is the bridge that connects God and man, the grace that draws us near Him.  At the end of this life, when we meet God face to face, there is one question that we will all have to answer, “Did you open the window of your heart to love?"  Love was the motive for Jesus Crucified, because as it is written in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son." Let us remember during this Lenten season and everyday beyond that we're called to ask for and show God’s mercy, in order to open for each of us, the redemptive door of love.

 

We Are a Family Fully Alive

    As I am now at the conclusion of all of the events from the World Meeting of Families convention and the Papal visitation, I am left with enlightened reflections and a recharged spirit. It was a very packed week of events for the Salesian family in attendance for the WMF.  Our men and women in formation joined me and Sr. Theresa Lee for much of the week’s festivities, and while there were intense schedules to keep to it was an enriching experience for us as religious and as Catholics.

 As I began to physically feel the demands of the schedule, I could not help but think of the Holy Father.  Given the Papal events in Philadelphia, I was amazed that although Pope Francis faced a heavy schedule, his presence was inspiring in the informal encounters with groups and individuals.   He certainly had a plethora of formal meetings, gatherings, and liturgies  to attend to during his visit; and while those moments were filled with awe as we watched Pope Francis, it was in the informal encounters with those who were sidelined during the festivities that made the entirety of the events resonate the glory of God’s love.  As he entered the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul prior to celebrating the Eucharist, he embraced a person in a wheelchair.  As he continued walking, there was another person in a wheelchair that was somewhat excluded, but Pope Francis becoming aware of the other, quickly went back and embraced him as well. Although he had a schedule to maintain, His Holiness made even the smallest of time for those who sometimes are too forgotten by society.  It was from watching his presence and the overwhelming response to his visit that I drew my energy to keep going.

Much of Pope Francis’ visit included many messages about caring for one another, caring for those who are sidelined in life, and most of all bringing change about through sincere love. During the Festival of Families celebration along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, as he was speaking about how the need to challenge and be with young people in their journey of life, he strayed from the script for as long as a minute.   In this time he was most alive and passionate giving the impression of a prophetic voice in our midst.

For sure, Pope Francis has continued to illustrate, from the time he was elected to the papacy, to the days he set foot in Philadelphia, that God is God of mercy and a God of love.  In a short video that recorded Francis’ greeting prior to his arrival he said, “I want to be there because you are there.”  Pope Francis’ presence in Philadelphia has made it clear that he lives as the agent of God’s mercy and invites everyone to partake in it.  He has demonstrated so well who God is, a God of mercy and that mercy is available to all. More than anything, his Papal visit has reiterated for our Church the need to be fully alive and fully present to one another and for those left fortunate and marginalized as one family. So as the Pope has departed from his time with is us in the U.S., it is my hope that we will all continue to come together as one in love, hope, and mercy.