• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

A Triptych on Mercy • Reflection I

Fr. David Friel · November 6, 2016

HE EXTRAORDINARY Jubilee Year of Mercy comes to a close on Sunday, November 20, 2016. This year has been an opportunity for the Church universal to reflect more deeply on what Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina is God’s greatest attribute. One significant thing that the experience of this Jubilee has revealed to me is that many people—in the Church and outside the Church—do not truly understand the meaning of Christian mercy. There is work to be done, in terms of both evangelization and catechesis.

To conclude this Year of Mercy, therefore, I am posting a trilogy of reflections, which I hope will be both spiritual and practical. Today marks the first installment, and the next two reflections will appear on the coming two Sundays.

Without any pretense that these reflections will be exhaustive, I plan to reflect on three topics: the meaning of mercy, the need for mercy, and the beauty of mercy.

My hope is that these thoughts will serve to elucidate the true nature of mercy and help to seal the graces of this Year of Mercy in those who read them.

My life story is not particularly interesting. It follows a rather predictable pattern. I was born & raised Catholic, went to school, entered the seminary, and became a parish priest. There are a few twists and turns, but nothing major.

Sometimes, to be honest, I wish I had a “better” story to tell. Why? Because, like many people, I like listening to stories about terrible sinners who reform their ways and start responding to God’s grace. It’s inspiring to hear about people who were in the grips of addiction before finding God. It’s fascinating to hear about people who left their faith or had no faith before converting to become Catholic.

My story isn’t “interesting” like those kinds of stories, where the person is caught in such an extreme situation that God has to show them incredible mercy. In reality, though, people with “exciting” stories are not the only people who have stories to tell about God’s mercy.

God’s mercy, after all, is not just about bringing wild sinners back from their errant ways. In fact, God’s mercy is just as vibrant in my story as it is in even the wildest story of a sinner come home. How so?

It was the mercy of God by which I was born healthy.

It was by God’s mercy that I have a good family.

It was by God’s mercy that I received a good education.

It was by God’s mercy that I was called to the priesthood.

It is by God’s mercy that I woke up this morning.

It is by God’s mercy that I have a place to live and food to eat and money to spend.

At every step of my life’s journey, the mercy of God has been deeply at work.

This should tell us something about the meaning of mercy. Mercy refers not only to God’s power to forgive. Mercy is broader than that.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word that is most often translated as “mercy” is the word hesed. Hesed could also be translated as “loving-kindness,” or even “loyalty.” It is more about kindness than strictly about forgiveness, although forgiveness is certainly part of God’s extraordinary kindness. Hesed is not a mood; it is not a feeling; it is a deep disposition of the heart. This type of loving-kindness is an essential part of Who God is—indeed, it is His greatest attribute.

We see this usage of the word “mercy” at several points throughout the Mass. One of the most beautiful prayers we pray in every Mass is the prayer that immediately follows the Our Father, the Libera Nos, Domine. Read this very familiar prayer again:

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of Your mercy, we may be always free from sin.

This prayer does not envision God’s mercy simply as a corrective for our sins. Rather, this prayer recognizes that God’s mercy is also at work when we are kept free from sin. This is one of the most important reasons we should go to confession: so that God can not only forgive our sins, but also, in His mercy, preserve us from sin going forward.

Our stories—your story & my story—need not be flashy or dramatic or “interesting.” We do not have to be world-class sinners in order to experience God’s mercy. The simple fact that we exist is a testament to God’s mercy. The fact that we are breathing means that we are experiencing God’s mercy here and now.

The truly “interesting” life story is the story of one who accepts God’s merciful kindness and allows that experience to transform one’s life.

Part 1 • The Meaning of Mercy

Part 2 • The Need for Mercy

Part 3 • The Beauty of Mercy

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)

Recent Posts

  • Apply Right Now! • Sacred Music Symposium
  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.