Mercy

God's mercy has been a big topic the past week or so. It started last Thursday at the Think God! group I facilitate. We are studying the readings for each Sunday in Lent. Last week, the Gospel was the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We all have heard this story. It's about sin, repentance, forgiveness, and mercy. The Parable came up again on Saturday, at our weekly Grief Ministry program, this time talking about those who disappointed us in our time of need. Then Monday night, in the Christology class I am currently taking, Deacon Bob talked about God's mercy, and looking at the Incarnation and Resurrection to understand God's mercy. And today, at a session for the 33 Days to Divine Mercy mini-retreat, we again discussed God's mercy.

In all of those discussions, we focused on God's mercy as it pertains to forgiveness of sin. Of course, that is important, very important, but we shouldn't lose sight of God's mercy in our everyday lives.

Next Wednesday, April 10, would have been Nick's 85th birthday, and ordinarily, I would be expecting it to be a hard day. But then I realized how many incidents of God's mercy I could point to when it came to days that should have been hard.

The first September after Nick died, my best friend decided that the two of us should spend Labor Day weekend in Lancaster, which had been my and Nick's favorite vacation spot. That weekend also happened to be the first anniversary of our wedding since Nick died. Instead of being home alone, despondent, my best friend and I were having a lovely time in Lancaster. A day I dreaded became a day of memories, with both laughter and tears.

When Linda found out she was related to Flora, she made plans to go to Tampa in February to meet Flora and her family. Two months before that trip, we found out Linda is our sister, so Mary and I made the trip to Tampa, too. So, on the first anniversary of Nick's death, instead of being home, alone, despondent, I was instead sitting on the beach at Siesta Key with both my sisters. God's mercy in the timing of that trip put me with the people I most needed to be with for that day.

Last September, Linda's joint birthday party with her youngest son just so happened to take place Labor Day weekend. So, once again, for my wedding anniversary, I was with both my sisters, and my brother, too. God's mercy in the timing of that celebration put me with the people I most needed to be with for that day.

This February, my best friend decided to escape the cold and snow of Pennsylvania for a bit and come visit me in Florida. The days she could get off work, and the days flights were least expensive, had her here with me for the third anniversary of Nick's death. God's mercy in the timing of that trip put me with the people I most needed to be with for that day.

We have other relatives we haven't met yet, and when it developed that they have a mini-family reunion in Florida in the Spring, we all made plans to join in. My brother should get here on Saturday, Linda and Mary both fly in on April 10 -- the day that would have been Nick's 85th birthday. God's mercy in the timing of that family reunion and flight schedules will again put me with the people I most need to be with for that day.

God's mercy comes to us not just in the forgiveness of our sins, but in those times in our everyday lives when we need assistance. We don't always see it. We credit "luck" with finding a good parking space, even if we have just said a fervent prayer asking for one. But we fail to see God's mercy in that answer to our prayer.

God owes us nothing. We owe God everything. But how many times do we live our lives as though God owes us everything, and we owe him nothing?