Fisichella: "Mercy is not an insignificant matter"

"Perhaps we have long since forgotten how to show and live the way of mercy." The benevolent admonition made by Pope Francis cannot only be perceived by the Church as a positive encouragement to take the next Jubilee seriously.  Having forgotten mercy is not an insignificant matter.

According to the Church it means having inexplicably drawn back from the actual core of the Gospel and from its particular mission in the world.  Mercy is neither a concept nor an abstract word. It is life itself in which the credibility of  Christians must be measured. Living in mercy means beholding an act of God. It is difficult for modern languages to interpret the complexity of mercy as a biblical concept. The Latin roots, especially as explained by Saint Augustine, prevent us from seeing the abundance that appears from the revelation. 

As we know, the Latin word, misericordia, is made up of "misery" and "heart". The first word indicates the destitution and poverty of those who are forced to live on the edge of society. The heart destroys misery when it approaches it.  The negative feelings that pervade you disappear when you feel a heart hug you and love you. With his mercy God aids the poverty of mankind.

Nevertheless, this is only one concept of reality that is also very restricted.  The ties with a mother's womb (rahamin), as mentioned in the Bible, greatly magnifies mercy's horizon.  It tangibly becomes the instinctive love of a person, but accompanied by manners of expressing it as well. These go from the vicinity to tenderness, from the devotion to emotion, from the compassion to absolution. Hence, mercy is God's behavior.  It is his love.  This is what has been revealed by history since the creation until Abraham and then through the various events experienced by the people of Israel, up to the culmination represented by Jesus of Nazareth. This is why nothing in the life of the Church should be devoid of mercy.  This is what compels the Church to go out into the streets of the world, so that it can be a visible witness of the responsibility it has been given and that it cannot renounce or fail to carry out.

We can understand why Pope Francis desires this Jubilee, which is to be called the Holy Year of Mercy.  Because he is deeply convinced that this new milestone reached by evangelism must be imbued with this message and testimony. The expression according to which "Mercy is the very foundation of the Church's life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy", is the hermeneutic principle that helps us understand how the renewal of the Church is thought to be carried out. And it does not deceive the permanent reference to mercy as if it were a fleeting sentiment. I am deeply convinced that mercy has a great cultural value. 

Within a world in which forgiveness seems to have disappeared from people's relationships. Mercy can be a source of genuine cultural renewal, in a moment in which indifference is arising in a decisive way, when not contempt, because of the various conditions of social alienation. mercy can be a source of genuine cultural renewal. I think of the simple language of corporal and spiritual works of mercy that belong to our most ancient traditions. What is this advice for life, if not the incitement to pay more attention to simple people and to their neglected needs? We most likely need a more modern language to allow the urgency of our modern world to arise from these works of mercy.

Yet how much wisdom is hidden in that advice,  and how much humanity does it express when it becomes the tangible life that we experience every day. Feeding the poor and giving to drink to the thirsty, visiting the ill and those in prison, giving hospitality to the homeless refugees, have the same importance as being full of patience, giving promotion to those who are slaves of ignorance, comforting those who are sad and forgiving the insults received. Therefore, an incitement to awaken one's conscience from the slumber it often falls into and rediscover the beauty of faith, which opens towards sharing. Hence, a Jubilee that can build a genuine renewal of the Church, starting from a change in our own personal life.