The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

God always forgives us, and joy always endures

“Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved” (Pope Francis, “Evangelii Gaudium,” “The Joy of the Gospel,” #6).

Two of the most consistent themes in the teaching of Pope Francis are mercy and joy. During Lent, the Church calls our attention to the inexhaustible forgiveness of God. In Easter time, we are called to share in the experience of endless joy.

This joy is the result of an encounter with a person, Jesus Christ. Like the experience of falling in love, joy overtakes us. It floods our heart with a sense of beauty, goodness and fulfillment. Joy is a deeply spiritual experience that is very different from the physical satisfaction of our senses.

The Gospel story of the prodigal son (Lk 15:1-32) is an illustration of true joy. The younger son sought pleasure through dissipation, but he came up empty. It was only when he faced his sinfulness and sought forgiveness that he could experience lasting joy. Sadly, the older son, who obeyed his father and did all the right things, did not know joy because his heart was bitter and resentful.

“How good it feels to come back to [God] whenever we are lost!” Pope Francis writes. “Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another ‘seventy times seven’ [Mt 18:22] has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again, he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!” (“Evangelii Gaudium,” #3)

The personal encounter with Jesus that is the source of Christian joy is especially keen during the Easter season. Having come from a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving when we have emptied ourselves of false desires and futile attempts to find happiness in worldly things, we are reminded of how blessed we are by a God who gives himself to us unconditionally.

As Pope Francis says, “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.’ The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms” (#3).

God never tires of forgiving us, and “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety‑nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7). Mercy and joy come together. In Jesus, who is the face of God’s mercy, and our source of lasting joy, the two experiences are united.

As Pope Francis teaches, “Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties. Every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus. This has nothing to do with fostering an aesthetic relativism which would downplay the inseparable bond between truth, goodness and beauty, but rather a renewed esteem for beauty as a means of touching the human heart and enabling the truth and goodness of the Risen Christ to radiate within it” (#167).

Beauty, goodness and truth are inseparable from our experience of authentic joy. This Easter season, let’s be grateful for the mercy shown us “seventy times seven,” and let’s open our hearts to an encounter with God’s Son and our brother, who shows us with absolute certainty that “when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.”
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †