Book Review: The Name of God is Mercy
(Pope Francis in conversation with Andrea
Tornielli)
As stated in the introduction, The
Name of God is Mercy is a record of author Andrea Tornielli’s question-and-answer conversation with Pope
Francis in his living quarters in Saint Martha’s House, Vacitan City.
Tornielli establishes in the appropriately
titled introduction, “Francis’s Vision”, that Pope Francis’s focus from the
beginning of his papacy has been on the mercy of God. She notes that, during his 2nd
homily delivered on March 17, 2013 at the Church of St. Anna in the Vatican
just 4 days after his election as pope, he referred to the story of the fallen
woman (John 8:11) and commented, “The message of Jesus is mercy. For me; and I say this with humility, it is
the Lord’s strongest message.” (iv) A
year later, on April 7, 2014, in a homily delivered at Saint Martha’s Home, he
added, God forgives not with a decree but with a caress.” (xii)
 |
| John 8:11 - Story of The Fallen Woman |
In Part I, “A Time For Mercy”, in response to
the question Where did the inspiration
[for a Holy Year of Mercy] come from?, Pope Francis reveals that he spent
considerable time in prayer reflecting on the mission of the Church and came to
the realization that the Church should operate “…as a field hospital, where
treatment is given above all to those who are most wounded.” (8) He adds that the need for mercy is critical
“Because humanity is wounded … [not just from] social ills or poverty, social
exclusion [but also] Relativism.” (15)
After lamenting that many people are so distraught that they “don’t
believe that there is a chance for redemption”, he nonetheless affirms that
“The love of God exists even for those who are not disposed to receive it.”
(16-17)
His advice is to be tender with those who have
become cynical or who despair, and specifically for priests, he recommends
“…even if you can’t absolve them [be compassionate]. Give them a blessing anyways.” (18)
In “The Gift of Confession”, Pope Francis
describes the Sacrament of Reconciliation as “…an encounter with mercy.” (23) In response to the question Why is it important to go to confession?,
he responds:
… [Because] forgiveness has a social
implication: my sin wounds mankind, my brothers and sisters and society as a
whole. Confessing to a priest is a way
of putting my life into the hands and heart of someone else, someone who in
that moment acts in the name of Jesus. (22)
With great
humility, Pope Francis reflects on his own sinfulness in “A Sinner, Like Saint
Peter”, stating that “The Pope is a man who needs the mercy of God”. (41) However, he takes great solace from St. Peter
who “…betrayed Jesus, and even so he was chosen.” (41) The pope confesses that he has “…a special
relationship with people in prisons … because of my awareness of being a sinner.”
Indeed, when he visits prisoners, he
thinks “Why them and not me? I should be
here. I deserve to be here. Their fall could have been mine.” (41-42)
When Tornielli
asks if there are times when too much mercy is granted, Pope Francis responds conclusively:
“No human sin – however serious – can prevail over or limit mercy …God is a
careful and attentive father, ready to welcome any person who takes a step or
even expresses the desire to take a step that leads home.” (50)
In the section titled “Shepherds, Not
Scholars of The Law”, Pope Francis contrasts the pastoral ministry of Jesus
with the self-righteous and dispassionate approach taken by some religious
people (including clerics), whom he identifies as ‘scholars’:
Jesus touched the leper and brought him
back into the community. He didn’t sit
down at a desk and study the situation …What really mattered to him was
reaching stranded people and saving them, like the Good Shepherd who leaves the
flock to save one lost sheep. (65)
 |
| Jesus cures a leper |
For Pope Francis, these “scholars of the law
“…appear devout from the outside but inside …hypocrites.” They are people who “…live attached to the
letter of the law but who neglect love.” (67)
They are “…men who only know how to close doors and draw boundaries.”
(69) The Gospels show these two “kinds
of thought and faith” associated with the exclusionary stance of the scholar and
the inclusionary love of God:
On the one hand, there is the fear of
losing the just and the saved, the sheep that are already safely inside the
pen. On the other hand, there is the
desire to save the sinners, the lost, those on the other side of the
fence. The first is the logic of the
scholars of the law. The second is the
logic of God. (66)
When he is asked And what about the risk of contamination? (from a pastoral approach
that takes a cleric into the world of the lost sheep), Pope Francis is
emphatic: “We need to enter the darkness, the night in which so many of our
brothers live …without letting ourselves be wrapped up in that darkness and
influenced by it.” (67)
 |
| Pope Francis washing prisoners' feet |
In a revelation that will no doubt baffle
some, Pope Francis admits that “I have surprised myself (at times) by thinking
that a few very rigid people would do well to slip a little, so that they could
remember that they are sinners and thus meet Jesus.” (70)
In “Sinners Yes, Corrupt No”, Pope Francis
makes an important distinction between sinners and people who live in
corruption. Given our human
imperfection, all of us are, at one time or another, sinners. However, the pope encourages sinners to take
heart, for there are no limits to “the love of the all-forgiving God” and
“Jesus performs miracles with our sins …with our nothingness, our
wretchedness.” (86) As long as the
sinner seeks forgiveness and repents, he/she will be forgiven.
On the other hand, “The corrupt man is the
one who sins but does not repent, who sins and pretends to be Christian.”
(81) For the pope, such an individual
leads a “…double life that is scandalous.” (81)
In a scathing chastisement of corrupt individuals, Pope Francis says:
The corrupt man gets angry because his
wallet is stolen and so he complains about the lack of safety on the streets,
but then he is the one who cheats the state by evading taxes …and then he
boasts to his friends about his cunning ways. (83)
The
interviewer asks How can mercy be taught
to children? The pope responds
“…above all by having them experience mercy” (87) – an answer that is short in
terms of words but worthy of lengthy and careful reflection.
Pope
Francis is equally succinct when asked about the link between mercy and
compassion: “The Christian message is
transmitted by embracing those in difficulty, by embracing the outcast, the
marginalized, and the sinner….” (93)
In
the final section, “Living The Holy Year of Mercy”, Pope Francis responds to
the question: What are the most important
things that a believer should do during the Holy Year of Mercy? “He should open up to the Mercy of God …and
allow Jesus to come toward him by approaching the confessional with faith.”
(97) The pope also recommends performing
the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy:
We have received freely, we give
freely. We are called to serve Christ
the Crucified through every marginalized person. We touch the flesh of Christ in he who is
outcast, hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned, ill, unemployed, persecuted, in
search of refuge. (98)
No comments:
Post a Comment