Back in 1967, when I came home from college for summer vacation, I helped our Dad and our neighbor build the foundation for our new house on the farm. The house that my brother and his wife live in today.
They gave me two jobs to do: to carry the cement blocks... which were very heavy - and to carry the mortar which was also very heavy.
And that’s when I decided to become a priest!
Just kidding. But I did learn how a block foundation is built. And I learned the importance of having a good foundation. When it came time to put up the walls - the four walls fit together perfectly because the foundation was engineered perfectly.
And that brings me to my goal for today: I want to look at the foundation of Christian life. Two words describe the foundation for our Christian lives: God’s Mercy. That’s what our Christian life is all about. God’s Mercy.
Saint Paul says that we need God’s mercy every day. We are sinful every day and we need God’s mercy every day. We keep doing the bad things that we say that we will never do and we fail to do the good things that we promised that we would do. In Romans, Chapter Five, Paul says that God’s mercy is bigger than our sins. No matter how big our sins are, they are wiped out by the sheer power of God’s mercy. And that is the Good News that we need to hear today.
Good News is the high point of today’s Gospel. Today’s Gospel says, “John the Baptist was preaching Good News to the people.” Those are the final words of today’s Gospel. So what was the content of John’s preaching? What was his Good News? He was pointing at his cousin Jesus and he was saying, “There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
That brings us back to our two key words for today: “God’s Mercy.” Jesus is the agent of mercy. He is the one who takes away our sins. Jesus is the one who takes away the sins of the world. Mercy is the first word in his job description. He came to take away the sins of the world.
Pope Francis has given many speeches about God’s mercy. He began his term of office by saying, “I am a sinner and God’s mercy is taking away my sin.” He says that we need to become more convinced that God is kind and merciful. He reminds us that we are made in God’s image and likeness.
In Luke Chapter 6, verse 36, Jesus said, “Be merciful as your Father is merciful.” Since we are made in God’s image and God is merciful, our job description is to extend God’s mercy to others. How do we do that? By doing the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy. John the Baptist gave us a concrete example in today’s Gospel: “Whoever has two coats should give one to the person who has none.” That would be a corporal work of mercy. One day Jesus said, “Judge not lest you be judged.” That would be a spiritual work of mercy. Giving support to others instead of judging them.
Pope Francis has asked us to change our hearts and change our lives so that we become conduits of God's love and mercy in everything that we say and do. He points to these words in our Eucharistic Prayer at Mass: “O Lord, have mercy on us all.” Then the Eucharistic Prayer indicates who will be saved: Those who are Christian and those who do not believe in Christ but seek God with a sincere heart. Pope Francis has also asked us to forgive others in the same way that we have received forgiveness from God. He has asked us to find ways to heal wounds, to break down barriers of indifference, and to offer our friendship to those living on the margins of society.
Pope Francis is challenging us to learn the ways of God’s mercy. He tells us the God’s mercy extends to outsiders and he calls us to participate in interfaith dialogue. He calls us to remember how Jesus healed the servant of the Roman centurion. He was a Roman, a non-believer. His servant was very sick and Jesus healed him. Jesus stayed in close contact with Romans, Canaanites and other outsiders. Those people were thought to be outsiders; but they were not outside the circle of God’s love and mercy.
I will close with this summary. We have every reason to be joyful on Gaudete Sunday. Our hearts are filled with joy because God is kind and merciful.
God’s Mercy is what our faith is all about.