Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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Mercy is at the center of the Gospel of Christ

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In Wednesday’s General Audience,  Pope Francis returned to his favorite subject…mercy, and gave his reasons for doing so.

“Like a good mother and educator, the Church focuses on the essential, and the essential, according to the Gospel, is mercy, as Jesus clearly tells his disciples: ‘Be merciful, just as your father is.’ Is it possible for a Christian not to be merciful,” asked Pope Francis. “No. The Christian must necessarily be merciful, because this is at the center of the Gospel.”

Following the advice of Aristotle (Rhetoric), who advised speakers to tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them, the Holy Father is dedicated to clarifying the core message of the Gospel, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

Continuing, Pope Francis added, “And so the Church behaves like Jesus. She does not give theoretical lessons on love or on mercy. She does not spread throughout the world a philosophy or a path to wisdom. Certainly, Christianity is all of this, too,” the pope remarked, “but as a consequence, a reflection. The mother Church, like Jesus, teaches by example and words serve to cast light on the meaning of her gestures.”

Referring to the Last Judgment passage in Matthew 25:35-46, Pope Francis explained that mercy is witnessed by parents who teach their children that what is left over is for those in need, by those who visit the sick and elderly in hospitals and rest homes, by the people who care for those who have been abandoned, and by those who are close to the imprisoned, recalling that “each of us is capable of doing what these (imprisoned) have done.”

Concluding the reflection, the Holy Father said, “The Church is a mother teaching her children the works of mercy. She has learned this path from Jesus; she has learned that this is essential for salvation. It is not enough to love those who love us. It is not enough to do good to those who do good to us in return. To change the world for the better, it is necessary to do good to those who are not able to do the same for us, as our Father did for us, in giving us Jesus. How much have we paid for our redemption? Nothing. It was all free. Doing good without expecting anything in return – this is what our Father did for us and what we too must do.”

Jesus is the incarnation of the Father’s mercy. As his disciples let us be witnesses to his Gospel of mercy and love.

Image Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring

Christian persecution continues unabated

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A Coptic Orthodox bishop surveys a damaged church in late August in Minya, Egypt

Almost 1,700 years after the Edict of Constantine granted freedom of worship to Christians, persecution of the followers of Christ continues unabated. Speaking before an international conference on religious freedom in Rome, Pope Francis observed that “persecution of Christians is stronger than it was in the first centuries of the Church, and there are more Christian martyrs than in that time.”

Coptic Christians in Egypt are under siege. The Nigerian terrorist group known as Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of school girls in an effort to close Christian schools. Christian families in Pakistan have recently been freed from two decades of slavery in a Muslim-run brick kiln. Meanwhile, Christians in areas of Iraq overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian fighters are in fear for their lives. And, China continues to harass and suppress Christians.

Last January, a Pew Report on Religious Hostility showed that Christians continue to be the world’s most oppressed religious group with persecution against them reported in 110 countries.

“Religious freedom,” the Holy Father emphasized, “is not simply freedom of thought or private worship. It is the freedom to live according to ethical principles, both privately and publicly.”

“Reason,” Pope Francis said, “recognizes that religious freedom is a fundamental right of man, reflecting his highest dignity, that of seeking the truth and adhering to it, and recognizing it as an indispensable condition for realizing all his potential.”
We must never take our religious freedom for granted, but be constantly vigilant lest it be taken from us bit by bit.

Image credit:
A Coptic Orthodox bishop surveys a damaged church in late August in Minya, Egypt.(CNS photo/Louaf i Larbi, Reuters) (Dec. 9, 2013)