English
EspañolLet us not make God in the image and likeness of man´s coldness, revenge, and hatred.
What an enormous blasphemy to present the face of God with human masks! He is always the good father of every prodigal son and the good Samaritan of every wounded and marginalized person without tiring in his faithfulness and love. He is not the implacable prosecutor, ruthless judge, or cruel executioner we embody against our enemies.
Text
“A sincere reflection can strengthen trust in the mercy of God which is not denied anyone.” What we are speaking of is a process of accompaniment and discernment which “guides the faithful to an awareness of their situation before God.” (The Joy of Love, n.300)
Commentary
Pope Francis is particularly concerned that Christians, especially those with ministerial responsibilities, should not hide the truth of the Triune God, his authentic face and heart, by disguising them with human pettiness. It is decisive that everyone should know God’s mercy, his unceasing readiness to forgive, lift, resurrect, heal the human soul, and infuse it with new life.
Nowadays, personal situations such as lives with fractured marriages and families abound. The Father´s faithful mercy is not directed towards blessing the prodigal son´s vices, but going out every morning, with an open heart, to await the son´s return home, that is, his return to the life of the living and not applauding him for entering the land of the dead. The Father reaches out to meet his children; He loves and forgives, reincorporates them, and celebrates. God´s love does not bless the thieves who robbed and left the wayfarer badly wounded. He is embodied in the Good Samaritan who does not turn his back but takes care of healing the human being, without distinction, when he is mistreated and marginalized and can be found in the gutters of life. Jesus came to save, not to condemn. To apply the mercy of God with discernment to each particular situation is to personalize concrete situations, avoiding judging them in a generic abstract and anonymous manner. Personalizing means leading each person, from understanding his particular biographical circumstance to rectifying his or her life through steps, sometimes small but possible; and within each step lies an improvement, a better way of loving, less hatred hurt. This process contains neither steps which are impossible to take nor hopelessness. One should never disinherit the prodigal son or turn their back on him because we do not want to commit ourselves or because we despise those who in life have been badly hurt, marginalized and abandoned, has no place in the process.
Pope Francis reminds us that norms and laws cannot be used to keep people from encountering God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. The meaning of norms is to bring people closer to God, channeling paths, not hiding God’s authentic face by turning norms into walls and God into a mask. In reality, with these warnings, Pope Francis does nothing but recall today the Spirit of Jesus, his way of acting so close to the sick, the publicans and sinners, his freedom from the dead clichés of scribes, and Pharisees’ religious prescriptions. It will not be irrelevant to remember that in this respect, Jesus was little understood even by his close disciples and hated to death by those who began to plot how to make him disappear.
When the Spirit of Jesus nestles in the one who must discern a concrete and particularized situation, there is better placement of the fulfillment of the norms that, in and of themselves, are not the essential and main issue. The first and most decisive issue is for the person concerned to open his heart, resolve to straighten out, as much as possible, given his particular circumstance – without causing new and greater evils – and personally reencounter Jesus Christ, the Savior. Nothing in this world can become an insurmountable obstacle against every human being´s right to love as Jesus taught us, reclaiming the authentic path, which will, of course, take place in the measure of growth and improvement of this mandate of love can bestow on to each particular biographical circumstance.
In many cases, these doses of improvement would suffice, if lived with authentic determination, for many families divided and confronted due to divorce, among other causes, to put an end to the extension of the damages, resentments, and hatreds, and to begin to repair essential aspects of their complex relationships. The underage children of divorced parents would be the first to benefit from these improvements balancing, developing, and maturing their personalities, restoring family ties with their parents and grandparents, and regaining peace in their lives. Ensuring that the cancer of divorce does not metastasize throughout the rest of the family ties: the children, grandparents, siblings, cousins … is undoubtedly an improvement.
