Agents of Mercy

 In a consumerist age, there can be a tendency to limit the reception of the sacraments to my own immediate needs. We often hear this indicated when people seek to have their children done almost like a sheep dip at baptism. Yet what God seeks through the ministry of the Church is for people to enter into a living relationship that sustains them in life and prepares them for eternal life. What we engage with here is reflected in how we are present to others. It helps us to notice what is most important and where we channel our time and our resources.

This is at the heart of the Gospel about the forgiven and unforgiving servant. He is very conscious of the demands placed upon him and he has fallen short of what was expected. There is no way he can repay the debt and yet his focus is on the money owed and his inability. When the debt is forgiven you would sense the relief that he had cheated prison and was now a "free" man. Yet this is only half the story. While he has been forgiven he has not absorbed mercy into the heart of his life. If anything his heart has been hardened at the very point you think it would be softened. He starts to become harsh to those around him and imposes far greater penalties on those he believes have short-changed him. He lacks forgiveness that we could have assumed would so easily flow from being forgiven himself.

In a similar way celebrating the sacrament of Penance is not just about wiping the slate clean but rather a life-giving encounter with the person who can heal our wounds. In an age where the sacrament seems to have been relegated to the dusty corners of a Church on a lonely Saturday, we can believe that it is all about our sins rather than God who seeks to offer salvation even to the worst sinner. God seeks to enter the broken heart so that the person may become an agent of God's mercy. This is not about just seeking salvation for ourselves but rather a liberation from what imprisons us from destructive and soul-destroying behavior. The celebration of the sacrament opens us to love God and others more deeply with a sincerity of heart that we are broken healers.

This takes great courage and reflection because it is hard to admit that I cannot be saved through my own efforts but only through that life-giving encounter with Christ. In prayer, it calls us to allow God to meet us even in our greatest struggles and our worst sins. This encounter is not just about what we think and how we act but who we become as a disciple of Christ. We embody what makes us whole by discovering what can tear us apart if left unresolved. The holiness we seek is not a self-perfection but rather a meeting of hearts that allows us to touch the wounds of Christ with our own wounds.