Dives in Misericordia: “The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church” (14, continued)

Chapter 7 of “Dives in Misericordia” (“Rich in Mercy”) is entitled “The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church.” It continues as follows:

“14. . . . For this reason, the Church must consider it one of her principal duties – at every stage of history and especially in our modern age – to proclaim and to introduce into life the mystery of mercy, supremely revealed in Jesus Christ. Not only for the Church herself as the community of believers but also in a certain sense for all humanity, this mystery is the source of a life different from the life which can be built by man, who is exposed to the oppressive forces of the threefold concupiscence active within him.¹²⁸ It is precisely in the name of this mystery that Christ teaches us to forgive always. How often we repeat the words of the prayer which He Himself taught us, asking ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,’ which means those who are guilty of something in our regard.¹²⁹ It is indeed difficult to express the profound value of the attitude which these words describe and inculcate. How many things these words say to every individual about others and also about himself. The consciousness of being trespassers against each other goes hand in hand with the call to fraternal solidarity, which St. Paul expressed in his concise exhortation to ‘forbear one another in love.’¹³⁰ What a lesson of humility is to be found here with regard to man, with regard both to one’s neighbor and to oneself[;] What a school of good will for daily living, in the various conditions of our existence[.] If we were to ignore this lesson, what would remain of any ‘humanist’ program of life and education?”

128. Cf. 1 John 2:16.
129. Matthew 6:12.
130. Ephesians 4:2; cf. Galatians 6:2.

 

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Pope John Paul II: “Dives in Misericordia”