Your heart, Oh Lord, is MERCY!
Time and time again, Lord, we see and approach you as a judge, God of justice;
Who takes note of our sins, to be punished in due time, with appropriate punishment.
For you are just, beyond telling.
Yes, just, and rightfully just!
But we become afraid, frightened like little children,
Cowed down by the imagined look on your face!
We want to hide from you, for our sins and mistakes are ever before you;
Shame and guilt burden our shoulders, and often, we run away from You.
So we may not be judged!
We leave your presence, your church, Lord, so we are not shamed!
But we are mistaken, Lord, sorely mistaken; for we do not know you.
We harbor a distorted image of you, and are scared by that image;
We do not know you, Lord, that you are full of mercy; a God of love and care!
That, though you may chide us, as Dads do, your mercy is boundless; (2 Sam. 24:4; Ps. 119:156)
As your children, we will always have you as our Daddy.
If you mark our iniquities, Lord, who can stand before you? (Ps. 130:3)
As the stream flows along its path, and makes living creatures grow,
So your mercy surrounds us always, making us whole and lovely before you.
But only if we knew!
Only if we knew how you run after us; how your mercy is larger than your justice;
How your mercy expands beyond your justice! (Ps: 89:14)
Change our eyes, Lord, so that we may see you better;
Open our ears, Lord, so that we may hear your voice of love and mercy;
Cleanse our hearts, Lord, so that we may love you in return;
Illumine our minds, Lord, so that we may perceive you as you are in Jesus
Change us, Lord, that we may come to know,
That we belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to you (1 Cor. 3:23)
Thank you, Lord, for your boundless mercy!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves” ( 2 Cor. 1:3)
And on this Sunday of Mercy, we pray for the peaceful repose of Pope Francis, whose pontificate is marked with the boundless mercy of God. Amen.
~Fr Cornelius Okeke