Dives in Misericordia: “The Paschal Mystery” (8, continued)

Chapter 5 of “Dives in Misericordia” (“Rich in Mercy”) is entitled “The Paschal Mystery.” It continues as follows:

“8. . . . In the eschatological fulfillment mercy will be revealed as love, while in the temporal phase, in human history, which is at the same time the history of sin and death, love must be revealed above all as mercy and must also be actualized as mercy. Christ’s messianic program, the program of mercy, becomes the program of His people, the program of the Church. At its very center there is always the cross, for it is in the cross that the revelation of merciful love attains its culmination. Until ‘the former things pass away,’⁹⁰ the cross will remain the point of reference for other words too of the Revelation of John: ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.’⁹¹ In a special way, God also reveals His mercy when He invites man to have ‘mercy’ on His only Son, the crucified one.”

90. Cf. Revelation 21:4.
91. Revelation 3:20.

 

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Pope John Paul II: “Dives in Misericordia”