Aware that some are wrongly fearful of God’s justice, Pope St. John Paul II very much emphasized God’s mercy! It is always true that God wants us reconciled with Him.
When he canonized that great herald of God’s mercy, Sister Faustina Kowalska in 2000, Pope St. John Paul II also declared that henceforth every first Sunday after Easter was to be recognized as Divine Mercy Sunday.
God’s mercy was certainly not a new revelation. It has always been an essential part of the Christian message.
Dives et Misericordia
The second of John Paul II’s fourteen encyclicals is entitled Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy). It was issued on November 30, 1980. It states:
“The present-day mentality, more perhaps than that of people in the past, seems opposed to a God of mercy, and in fact tends to exclude from life and to remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy. The word and the concept of ‘mercy’ seem to cause uneasiness in man” (2., par. 3)
“. . . mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the messianic message of Christ . . . mercy seems particularly necessary for our times” (6., par. 5).
“. . . one cannot fail to be worried by the decline of many fundamental values . . . the individual and the society for whom nothing is ‘sacred’ suffer moral decay, in spite of appearances” (12., par. 4).
Dives et Misericordia repeatedly reminds us that God’s mercy is so great and so abundant that it even surpasses His justice.
God’s mercy is certainly magnificent news to those wanting to repent. Yet, what about those who fail to appreciate their need for repentance and God’s great mercy?
Veritatis Splendor
Reports of clerical sexual abuse began coming to the light in the early 1990s. It was during this time period that Pope St. John Paul II addressed grave deficiencies in moral understanding and failure to understand our need for God’s mercy in his tenth encyclical. Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth) was issued on August 8, 1993.
Nearly thirteen years after Dives et Misericordia, John Paul II seemed well aware that many still lacked appreciation of their need for God’s great mercy. So he expanded on what he said in Dives et Misericordia. He noted that understanding of basic moral truths had become endangered even in seminaries and other places of theological learning!
“. . . it seems necessary to reflect on the whole of the Church’s moral teaching, with the precise goal of recalling certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which, in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or denied. . . . the traditional doctrine regarding the natural law, and the universality and the permanent validity of its precepts, is rejected; certain of the Church’s moral teachings are found simply unacceptable;
“. . . note should be taken of the lack of harmony between the traditional response of the Church and certain theological positions, encountered even in Seminaries and in Faculties of Theology, with regard to questions of the greatest importance for the Church and for the life of faith of Christians, as well as for the life of society itself” (4., paragraphs 2 and 3).
Because of our deficient understanding, we sometimes call God’s commandments into question on their usefulness and obligatory nature.
Original sin and actual sin impairs our ability to know and follow truth. But God is always there to help us obey the truth, which in turn makes us holy!
The Rich Young Man
Pope St. John Paul II reminds us of our universal call to holiness. Matthew 19:16-22 recounts Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man. The young man walked away as he gained more comprehension of the demands of his call to holiness.
Rather than similarly walk away or dismiss our own lofty calls to holiness, Jesus gives us the means to achieve that holiness. He strengthens us with His Holy Spirit and His sacraments, as well as by the example and intercession of the saints – most especially His own mother.
Christ does not dismiss the moral law. He gives us the means to fulfill it.
The Magisterium
All Catholics should know that the teaching office of the Catholic Church is the Magisterium. It has the colossal responsibility of helping us to understand and follow the moral law, which will lead to our genuine happiness.
Following one’s conscience is recognized by all as noble and right. But a less than fully formed Catholic conscience is prone to err.
As we are obliged to form our consciences in line with what the Church teaches, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (and its Compendium) are indispensable aids. In light of faulty theological teachings, such as Veritatis Splendor discusses, we desperately need the Magisterium to speak clearly and forcefully.
I recently shared my belief that this includes:
“The lifelong, always open to life, marriage of one man and one woman is the ONLY place for conjugal relations. Each human has the right to originate in this loving embrace. Yet no matter how she came to be, she is owed absolute protection and respect.”
Conclusion
As I mentioned, reports of clerical sexual abuse were surfacing around the same time that Pope St. John Paul II gave us Veritatis Splendor. I do not believe that this was coincidental.
Pope St. John Paul II recognized the shameful connection between faulty moral teaching and behavior. Let us pray for his intercession in guiding our current leadership to the same.
