Allocutio at June 2015 Concilium Meeting by Fr. Bede McGregor, OP

The Face of Mercy

**************************

On reading the letter of Pope Francis, ‘The Face of Mercy,’ announcing the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy from 8th December 2015, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, to the 20th November 2016, the feast of Christ the King, my immediate reaction was the conviction that this letter is of immense significance for the Legion of Mary throughout the whole world.

As we know, the original name of the Legion was for a time, ‘The Association of Our Lady of Mercy.’ Later the name was changed but the reality signified by the name has never changed. Mercy must be at the heart of the Legion as it is in the heart of Mary and in the heart of the Church. The Handbook reminds us: ‘The very first praesidium of the Legion was given the title Our Lady of Mercy. This was done because the first work undertaken was the visitation of a hospital under the care of the Sisters of Mercy. The legionaries thought they were choosing the name, but who can doubt that in reality it was conferred by the sweet Virgin herself, who thereby indicated the quality which must ever distinguish the legionary soul.’

Of course, the great source and the face of mercy are seen primarily and essentially in Jesus. Pope Francis reiterates the simple truth that Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions and his entire person reveals the mercy of God. Especially we see the face of mercy in the figure of Christ on the Cross. We hear him cry out the infinitely precious words: ‘Father, forgive them.’ Mercy identifies the very nature of God in relationship with the whole created order. We simply do not know God if we do not know his mercy. It is the quintessential Gospel. We have not yet truly heard or lived the Gospel if we have not opened our hearts and our lives to the mercy of God. Neither will we ever really know Mary if we do not see in some fashion that mercy defines her very being too. She stood at the cross and she heard those words of her Son. They pierced her heart and she became the Mother of Mercy. No one has ever understood as much as Mary that mercy is the key to understanding the very identity and mission of Jesus. She knows what her Son meant when he said so often: ‘I came to save sinners.’ And the Legion like the Church, with the Church and in the Church stands by Mary at the foot of the Cross to hear and appropriate this primordial truth of the Gospel which is Divine Mercy.

Pope Francis quotes Saint John Paul 11: ‘The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy – the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and Redeemer – and when she brings people close to the sources of the Saviour’s mercy, od which she is the trustee and dispenser.’ Much of what the recent Popes say of the place of mercy in the mission of the Church can and must be applied to the Legion too.

So, let me get back to Pope Francis. He writes: ‘The Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and the mind of every person. The Spouse of Christ must pattern her behaviour after the Son of God who went out to everyone without exception… It is absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father.

‘The Church’s first truth is the love of Christ. The Church makes herself a servant of this love and mediates it to all people: a love that forgives and expresses itself in the gift one’s self. Consequently, wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father must be present. In our parishes, communities, associations, and movements, in a word wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis in mercy.’

I hope and pray that the Legion will be an oasis of mercy on all five continents, in every Diocese and parish where she is present and indeed wherever legionaries are to be found. We are called by Mary to be an oasis of mercy, especially for those brothers and sisters of ours who are most in need of God’s mercy. One of the truly wonderful aspects of the Church in the modern world is the inspiring and profound social teaching of the Church; the application of the Gospel to the social, economic and cultural realities of the world. Especially we must underline her teaching and defence concerning the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death and in all other situations. Also noteworthy is the option for the poor which is so deeply rooted in the Gospels and we must never let it be obscured or neglected. Thankfully there are many groups who are committed to the corporal works of mercy and social justice and indeed every Christian must be involved at least to the extent open to them in the particular context of their state of life and circumstances such as health, age, work, children etc.

But the special focus of the Legion is on the spiritual works of mercy and especially the most fundamental option in the Gospels: the salvation of souls.. Jesus came first and foremost to save sinners. One may have every other good and necessary thing in life, but if one is deprived in one’s very soul then that is an eternal tragedy. Pope Francis has some truly illuminating things to say about the relationship between justice and mercy, but they will have to wait for another Allocutio. In the meanwhile may I recommend that we all read and constantly reread chapter 39 of the Handbook: the words may be different from the letter of Pope Francis, but it has the same sublime music.

****************************