the attraction of mercy: dec. 21 2017
We have just
read in our gospel what the Rosary calls the Visitation.
Why did Mary
visit Elizabeth? What was the motive of her visit? Why did she feel the need to go to her cousin
Elizabeth?
Let it be clear
that the journey from the home of Mary in Nazareth to the house of Elizabeth in
the hill country of Judea is not an ordinary journey. At present we could
not even compare it to the journey from Iloilo to Carles and with our relatively good and safe
roads it would even be incomparable to a roro to Manila. The journey of
Mary would take her 4 to 5 days. It was a difficult
journey and it was not safe. And yet why the urgency, why the hurry, why even the need?
It is said that
the urgency was what we can call an attraction to mercy. When we are in trouble we always run to the
person who can understand, not to the person who will condemn us, but to the
person who understands.
Mary was
pregnant. She was confused. How
would she explain that to her mother, to her father, to Joseph, to her
neighbors, to the rabbi in the village? NO she’s not going to jump around
and tell everyone excitedly that she was pregnant. She can’t do that.
And so Mary went in a hurry to Elizabeth whom she believed would
understand.
Elizabeth was
also pregnant in her old age and Mary believed that Elizabeth will understand
what was taking place. And that was the
hurry. The attraction of mercy. She knew she would be better
understood there. She knew she can find refuge there. She knew she
will be embraced there. The attraction of mercy.
When we become
judgmental as a church we lose that attraction of mercy. We hear this
most often. Indi ako magsimba, wala na ako nagapalapit sa simbahan kay makasasala ako. Para lang na dira sa mga
santo. If people are saying that, then
the church has already lost the attraction of mercy. Our parish may have already lost its
attraction of mercy – a community of persons who can accept, who can
understand, a parish who can welcome the sinner. We have to recover that.
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