Tasting God's Mercy

Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Angels, Our Titular Feastday

The feast, or in our case the solemnity of our Lady of the Angels, is intimately connected to the notion of pardon and mercy. St. Francis himself struggled with the idea of mercy and pardon. Until two years before his death, he was constantly nagged by thoughts of his former sinful way of life, wondering whether God had actually forgiven him. If my experience as a confessor is in any way typical, the same can be said of many of us. We are all of us guilty of sin in some form or fashion. We all realize that God's mercy is a free gift. We all doubt that we are worthy of such a gift especially since the majority of us will have the same sins to confess the next time we approach the sacrament. How can God forgive us if we continue to commit the same sins over and over again?

While the question may seem valid, the answer lies in the nature of God. If you have been paying attention to our Holy Father Pope Francis, this has been a constant theme in his preaching. God is mercy. God proclaimed this truth before Moses as we read in the thirty-fourth chapter of Exodus: So the LORD passed before him and proclaimed: The LORD, the LORD, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. (Exodus 34:6-7a) All we need do to tap into this fount of mercy is to confess our wrongdoing. "It cannot be that simple," the cynic cries. However, the simple truth is that it is just that simple.

God’s mercy extends further than just simply forgiving us our transgressions. As St. Paul relates in today’s reading from his Letter to the Galatians: “God sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law, to deliver from the law those who were subjected to it, so that we might receive our status as adopted children.” The concept of adoption is completely foreign to the Jewish cultural norms of the first century. If a child was left without parents, because that child was already living with an extended family that consisted of uncles and cousins, the child would never be displaced. However, St. Paul is more than a Jew; he is a Roman citizen. Adoption within the Roman cultural norms was not only acceptable, it was also the norm. When St. Paul says: “You are no longer a slave but a son (or daughter,”) he is actually referring to the fact that the most common adoptions in Roman culture took place when a man decided to adopt a slave as a reward for their service over several years.

As we are invited to the Eucharist table today, we cannot help but remember those beautiful words of Psalm 34: “Taste and see how good the Lord is, happy the one who takes refuge in the Lord.”