The Prodigal Son, by Rembrandt
Dives in Misericordia Summary
Dives in Misericordia, "God, who is rich in mercy", is a reflection on the most powerful aspect of God's love for humankind. In the first paragraph, Pope John Paul returns to his favorite quote from the Second Vatican Council, "'Christ the new Adam... fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his lofty calling,' and does it 'in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love.'" (n. 1, quoting Gaudium et Spes n. 22).
The Holy Father also recalls the great focus of his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, when he notes that "man cannot be manifested in the full dignity of his nature without reference - not only on the level of concepts but also in an integrally existential way - to God" (n. 1). Once again, the dignity of human persons will be the touchstone for the teaching and preaching of the Church, and for the personalist theology of Pope John Paul II.
The goal of John Paul's pontificate is to make explicit the Christian anthropology of the Second Vatican Council, which meant to link theocentrism and anthropocentrism in a "deep and organic way." This goal will be the goal of this encyclical as well. "Today I wish to say that openness to Christ, who as the Redeemer of the world fully 'reveals man to himself', can only be achieved through an ever more mature reference to the Father and His love" (n. 1).
The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is a revelation of the Father's love and mercy toward humankind. Jesus Christ, "in a certain sense, is mercy" (n. 2). But this concept of mercy is a threat to modern people who are opposed to any form of mercy. Given the technological and scientific advances of our day, we have become the masters of the earth and have subdued and dominated all creation. This dominance has led us far away from the appreciation of mercy, an attitude that develops when we can destroy all that is inconvenient or opposed to our wills.
At the same time, the Holy Spirit is leading many to promote the knowledge of God's mercy and to practice mercy in their own lives (n. 2). Though the Holy Father doesn't mention any of these movements by name, one need merely recall that he, while still Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, petitioned the Holy See to open the cause of canonization of the Polish nun Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska, who experienced revelations of the Divine Mercy in the 1920's and 30's. John Paul subsequently canonized her as the first Saint of the new Millennium, on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2000.
Pope John Paul's focus turns to the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ while he was among us. His mission was to the poor and the outcast, which were the groups that most needed to hear the message of God's infinite Mercy. He was a sign of love from the Father, a "visible sign [in which] the people of our own time, just like the people then, can see the Father." But in His preaching, Christ "at the same time demanded from people that they also should be guided in their lives by love and mercy. This requirement... constitutes the heart of the Gospel ethos... 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'" (n. 3).
The background teaching of the Old Testament reveals God as a merciful husband, who takes His bride (people) back in spite of their countless infidelities. "In the preaching of the prophets, mercy signifies a special power of love, which prevais over the sin and infidelity of the chosen people." As the Lord told Moses, He is a "God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex 34:6). The mercy of God isn't restricted to merely an attribute of God, but "characterizes the life of the whole people of Israel and each of its sons and daughters: mercy is the content of intimacy with their Lord, the content of their dialogue with Him" (n. 4).
A discussion of Mercy's relationship to Justice provides one of the most powerful teachings of this encyclical. It is best to let the Holy Father speak for himself: "Mercy is in a certain sense contrasted with Go'd justice, and in many cases is shown to be not only more powerful than that justice but also more profound... Love is 'greater' than justice: greater in the sense that it is primary and fundamental. Love, so to speak, conditions justice and, in the final analysis, justice serves love... Mercy differs from justice, but it is not in opposition to it, if we admit in the history of man -- as the Old Testament precisely does -- the presence of God, who alredy as Creator has linked Himself to His creature with a particular love... 'You hold nothing of what you have made in abhorrence.' (Wis 11:24) These words indicate the profound basis of the relationship between justice and mercy in God, in His relations with man and the world" (n. 4).
A moving discussion follows of the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) which is, according to Pope John Paul, an "analogy that enables us to understand more fully the mystery of mercy, as a profound drama played out between the father's love and the prodigality and sin of the son." It touches upon every person in every age, as a mirror in which we can see "every breach of the covenant of love, every loss of grace, every sin." Though the son had requested and received from his father a material inheritance, he had something more important than goods: his "dignity as a son in his father's house." Thus, when the son went and "squandered [his] sonship", he really was degrading his own dignity. It was, ironically, a sqandering of material goods that led the son to a deeper appreciation of his own relationship to his father. "Through the complex material situation in which the prodigal son found himself because of his folly, because of sin, the sense of lost dignity had matured" (n. 5).
How many times in our own lives has the experience of sin led us to a deeper appreciation of the mercy of God and to a deeper desire to be "within the Father's house"? The painful guilt attached to sin calls us, in a very real way, to a more profound appreciation of the dignity that we have as children of God. This teaching of Pope John Paul is a genuine call to sinners to hear the voice of the Father calling us back, in order that the Father may be able to rejoice, saying "this son of mine was dead and has come back to life!" (Luke 15: 24)
"There is no doubt that in this simple but penetrating analogy the figure of the father reveals us to God as Father." God acts as God when He shows His concern for what He has created. "The love that springs from the very essence of fatherhood, in a way obliges the father to be concerned about his son's dignity." Those who receive mercy from God are not degraded, or seen as less, for having to ask for mercy. Rather, the person who is the object of mercy does not feel humiliated, but rather found again and "restored to value." The father first and foremost expresses to him his joy that he has been "found again" and that he has "returned to life." This joy indicates a good that has remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not cease to be truly his father's son; it also indicates a good that has been found again, which in the case of the prodigal son was his return to the truth about himself" (n. 6).
We have returned to Pope John Paul's central reading of the Second Vatican Council, that Christ fully reveals man to himself, revealing the whole truth about man. Even in imploring mercy, people are restored to the lofty dignity that we have as children of God. "The true and proper meaning of mercy does not consist only in looking, however penetratingly and compassionately, at moral, physical or material evil: mercy is manifested in its true and proper aspect when it restores to value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world and in man" (n. 6).
To the question of how a loving and merciful God could allow His own Son to die in a cruel manner upon the cross, the Holy Father presents the teaching that Jesus Christ was the definitive answer to the "problem of pain". "Christ, as the man who suffers really and in a terrible way in the Garden of Olives and on Calvary, addresses Himself to the Father--that Father whose love He has preached to people, to whose mercy He has borne witness through all of His activity. But He is not spared--not even He-- the terrible suffering of death on the cross... In the passion and death of Christ--in the fact that the Father did not spare His own Son, but 'for our sake made him sin' --absolute justice is expressed, for Christ undergoes the passion and cross because of the sins of humanity... Nevertheless, this justice, which is properly justice 'to God's measure,' springs completely from love: from the love of the Father and of the Son...it springs from love and is accomplished in love, producing fruits of salvation... In this way, redemption involves the revelation of mercy in its fullness" (n. 7),
And this revelation of mercy is not only for the Christian believer, but for the non-believer, as well, because in the image of the sinless man hanging upon the cross, "the non-believer also will be able to discover in Him the eloquence of solidarity with the human lot, as also the harmonious fullness of a disinterested dedication to the cause of man, to truth and to love." This revelation of mercy brings us closer to God than we were even at the beginning, before the sin of man caused a breach in the relationship of God to humankind. Through the Paschal Mystery of Christ on the cross, we discover God as Father, and ourselves as children. This is a relationship infinitely greater than that of God as Creator and we as creatures (n. 7).
So what does it mean to be a believer in Jesus Christ, and him crucified? "Believing in the crucified Son means 'seeing the Father,' means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love's second name and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected vis-a-vis the reality of the evil that is in the world, affecting and besieging man, insinuating itself even into his heart and capable of causing him to 'perish in Gehenna.'" (n. 7).
But the conquering death of Christ on the cross does not end all suffering instantaneously. In the remarkable plan of creation history, God has placed the Incarnation at the "fullness of time" but not at the "completion of time". Thus, the crucifixion stands as a sign of the life to come, when heaven and earth are recreated and "every tear will be wiped away" (4th Eucharistic Prayer). "The cross of Christ, in fact, makes us understand the deepest roots of evil, which are fixed in sin and death; thus the cross becomes an eschatological sign. Only in the eschatological fulfillment and definitive renewal of the world will love conquer, in all the elect, the deepest sources of evil, bringing as its fully mature fruit the kingdom of life and holiness and glorious immortality. The foundation of this eschatological fulfillment is already contained in the cross of Christ and in His death" (n. 8).
Human history is a story of pain and death, but it is a story with a happy ending. In the plan of creation, God gives each person a free choice, to embrace life, or to choose death (cf. Dt 35:19). Jesus Christ "is the one who stands at the door and knocks at the heart of every man, without restricting his freedom, but instead seeking to draw from this very freedom love, which is not only an act of solidarity with the suffering Son of man, but also a kind of "mercy" shown by each one of us to the Son of the eternal Father." Once again, mercy is at the center of our relationship to God. Since we have received mercy from the Father, we are to radiate that mercy to others (n. 8).
Mary is exhibited by the Holy Father as the sublime example of one who has received the gift of mercy from God and now radiates it to others. Since she is linked by bonds of motherhood to her Son, who was Mercy Incarnate, she is, in a real sense, the "Mother of Mercy". In her, people can relate to a feminine image of mercy and love, while being drawn deeper into the heart of the Trinity, whose temple and spouse Mary is. She is our mother in the order of grace, a role that continues until the fulfillment of salvation history (n. 9).
In her prayer at the house of her cousin Elizabeth, Mary extols the mercy of God which he has revealed from "generation to generation" (Lk 1:50). Pope John Paul, after reflecting upon the merciful love shown in the Old Testament and the Paschal Mystery, moves on to show how our generation must respond to God's offer of mercy. Recalling that we stand at the threshold of the Third Millennium, the Holy Father calls attention to the many ways in which we have conquered creation and expanded human knowledge beyond our predecessors' dreams. "But side by side with all this, or rather as part of it, there are also the difficulties that appear whenever there is growth" (n. 10).
Once again returning to the warnings enunciated in Redemptor Hominis, Pope John Paul repeats the dangers of materialism, accepting the primacy of things over persons. "Individuals and the environment, communities, societies and nations can fall victim to the abuse of power by other individuals, environments and societies. The history of our century offers many examples of this. In spite of all the declarations on the rights of man in his integral dimension, that is to say in his bodily and spiritual existence, we cannot say that these examples belong only to the past" (n. 11). Many times in the past has John Paul referred to the great martyrs of the 20th century - especially St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, whom he named as "patron of our difficult century".
Against this warning, the Holy Father points to the supremacy of the individual conscience over all totalitarian and materialistic regimes. "Man rightly fears falling victim to an oppression that will deprive him of his interior freedom, of the possibility of expressing the truth of which he is convinced, of the faith that he professes, of the ability to obey the voice of conscience that tells him the right path to follow." The threats to this freedom are more powerful than any war or material destruction. "There is a growing awareness of yet another threat, even more destructive of what is essentially human, what is intimately bound up with the dignity of the person and his or her right to truth and freedom" (n. 11).
It is in the eyes of those who have plenty, especially the nations of the First World, where the guilt is laid bare and the solutions proposed are so insufficient. Just look at the inner-cities of America, where the homeless and the working poor co-exist with the wealthy, and you will feel the "gigantic remorse caused by the fact that, side by side with wealthy and surfeited people and societies, living in plenty and ruled by consumerism and pleasure, the same human family contains individuals and groups that are suffering from hunger. There are babies dying of hunger under their mothers' eyes. In various parts of the world, in various socioeconomic systems, there exist entire areas of poverty, shortage and underdevelopment" (n. 11).
"This uneasiness concerns--as the analyses of the Second Vatican Council rightly pointed out--the fundamental problems of all human existence. It is linked with the very sense of man's existence in the world, and is an uneasiness for the future of man and all humanity; it demands decisive solutions, which now seem to be forcing themselves upon the human race" (n. 11).
But, as the foregoing discussion of the relationship between justice and mercy has shown, love (in the form of mercy) must triumph over justice. Thus, though there are many programs which seek to alleviate the evils of our society in the name of justice, it must be realized that "justice alone is not enough, that it can lead to the negation and destruction of itself, if that deeper power, which is love, is not allowed to shape human life in its various dimensions." The Old Tesament teaching of "an eye for an eye", was, in the final analysis as taught by Christ, a distortion of justice - and yet that is the modern interpretation of justice. Justice, in its proper meaning, "by its nature tends to establish equality and harmony between the parties in conflict" (n. 12).
The Church has the duty to both proclaim and implore the mercy of God, which "Some theologians affirm... is the greatest of the attributes and perfections of God", since this is the attribute which humanity most encounters and needs to receive. The Sacraments of the Church mediate the mercy of God, especially the Eucharist and Penance. The Eucharist, which is the re-presentation of the Sacrifice at Calvary, is an act of imploring God's mercy, and joining in that mercy. The Sacrament of Penance is the individual celebration of the mercy of God, in which each person discovers the infinite love that God has for each of His children (n. 13).
This infinite love, this infinite mercy of God, is limitless and yet can be refused - "On the part of man only a lack of good will can limit it, a lack of readiness to be converted and to repent, in other words, persistence in obstinacy, opposing grace and truth, especially in the face of the witness of the cross and resurrection of Christ." Therefore, the Church never tires of proclaiming the need for conversion, in order to encourage all humanity to discover the mercy that God extends through the Incarnation and the Sacraments. And this merciful proclamation will serve to unite the followers of Christ as well, further realizing the ecumenical hopes of the Second Vatican Council (n. 13).
In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught his followers "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5:7). In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" (Lk. 11:3-4). Thus, the Gospel teaches us that mercy is a reciprocal act: we give, and we receive at the same time. Pope John Paul goes further into the meaning of this requirement: if we merely offer mercy and do not accept it in return, we are not fully participating in the fruits of mercy. Rather, we are seeking to be in a state of power over the one to whom we have extended mercy, and therefore we are not going to be healed (n. 14).
Returning to the relationship of justice and mercy, the Holy Father criticizes those who see mercy as a unilateral act or process, thus attempting to circumvent mercy and base all relationships on justice. This is wrong, the Pope notes, because "true mercy is, so to speak, the most profound source of justice." Again preaching the Christian anthropology of the Second Vatican Council and building upon his own personalist philosophy, the Holy Father explains that justice is concerned with "the reciprocal distribution of objective goos in an equitable manner", but that "love and only love (including the kindly love that we call 'mercy') is capable of restoring man to himself." Again returning to the theme of human dignity, "the equality brought by justice is limited to the realm of objective and extrinsic goods, while love and mercy bring it about that people meet one another in that value which is man himself, with the dignity that is proper to him" (n. 14).
The Church, in proclaiming the mercy of God, also implores mercy for her own transgressions. In a public prayer service at the beginning of Lent, 2000, Pope John Paul called the attention of the world to this aspect of mercy, specifically asking God's forgiveness for the sins committed by members of the Church in the Second Millennium. This service was both a public acknowledgement of wrong, as well as a teaching moment for every citizen of the world, who perhaps for the first time was forced to think about his/her own participation in wrongdoing. "Forgiveness demonstrates the presence in the world of the love which is more powerful than sin. Forgiveness is also the fundamental condition for reconciliation, not only in the relationship of God with man, but also in relationships between people" (n. 14).
Jesus, in teaching us to pray that we might be forgiven as we ourselves forgive, pointed out a fundamental way that humans experience solidarity: in the common feeling that we have all been trespassers. This is why we must forgive each other, in order to build solidarity based on mutual love. This forgiveness of others, however, "does not cancel out the objective requirements of justice. Properly understood, justice constitutes, so to speak, the goal of forgiveness. In no passage of the Gospel message does forgiveness, or mercy as its source, mean indulgence towards evil, towards scandals, towards injury or insult. In any case, reparation for evil and scandal, compensation for injury, and satisfaction for insult are conditions for forgiveness" (n. 14).
In these latter days, "the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy 'with loud cries.' These 'loud cries' should be the mark of the Church of our times, cries uttered to God to implore His mercy". This mercy, the love of God, is a mystery that teaches us that love is more powerful than death, more powerful than evil, and is powerful enough to raise humanity from our state of sorrow into everlasting joy. This is the message that needs to be proclaimed in these times of tension and suffering, in which it seems that mercy has been forgotten. This is the responsibility of the Church, to utter cries of "mercy" when our contemporaries cannot recognize their need for mercy from God the Father (n. 15).
In making this prayer before God on behalf of the whole world, the Church is expressing solidarity and love for all humanity. "This is love for people--it desires every true good for each individual and for every human community, every family, every nation, every social group, for young people, without exception. This is love, or rather an anxious solicitude to ensure for each individual every true good and to remove and drive away every sort of evil." It is turning outward to the world, in order that the world might be saved (n. 15).
"No matter how strong the resistance of human history may be, no matter how marked the diversity of contemporary civilization, no matter how great the denial of God in the human world, so much the greater must be the Church's closeness to that mystery which, hidden for centuries in God, was then truly shared with man, in time, through Jesus Christ" (n. 15).