God’s love and mercy have the last say

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S what we can draw from that gospel episode where Christ brought to life the dead son of a widow in the city of Nain. (cfr. Lk 7,11-17) He was just passing by, and he saw the dead body carried away for burial. Without asking any question, he was moved with compassion and then proceeded to resurrect the dead body, returning the son to his mother.

Of course, the people were floored with amazement. As the gospel narrates, “fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, ‘A great prophet has arisen in our midst,’ and ‘God has visited his people.’” (Lk 7,16)

With this gospel episode, we have basis to believe that no matter how we are in our life, in the end it will be God’s love and mercy that will have the last say. No questions asked!

And this belief can be reinforced by what St. Paul once said: “Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.” (Rom 5,20) Even more, we should not forget that right at the moment when Christ was about to die on the cross, he offered forgiveness to those who crucified him. “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23,34)

This should give us a lot confidence in our life where, in spite of our efforts, we cannot help but fall into some anomaly and sin, one way or another, sooner or later. This confidence in God’s love and mercy, however, should not lead us to take things easy and, worse, to abuse God’s goodness.

They should rather prod us to ever do our best in following God’s will and ways. And when we fall, we should be quick to recover by asking for forgiveness and for making atonement for our sins.

We should remember that while God’s love and mercy will have the last say, the requirements of justice will never be set aside. But it’s a justice that is divine, always animated by compassion and mercy.

Why is that so? The plausible answer is that no matter how we behave in this life, we continue to be God’s children. It’s like in any normal family. The children may be misbehaving, but the parents, while clarifying things and perhaps giving some measure of punishment, will always love their children. They will do everything to save their children.

And that is what God is precisely doing with us. And he now wants us to be like him. That’s why Christ said: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 13,34) And that love for one another is precisely expressed in its ultimate form when Christ said: “Forgive and you shall be forgiven.” (Mt 6,14) That’s why Christ also said that we should not forgive only 7 times, but 70 times 7, meaning always. (cfr. Mt 18,21-22)

At the end of the day, justice has to give way to mercy. If we follow Christ, this is what we should do. In his most unfair trial, Christ remained silent when he could have defended himself abundantly. But he remained quiet and allowed the erratic wheel of human justice to roll on.

He did it only for one sole purpose—to redeem us. He had to pay for the debt we could not pay. He had to assume all the sins of men, die to them so that with his resurrection, we also would have a way to recover our dignity as children of God if we also die with Christ.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com