Mercy. That’s a word we use a lot as Christians. Our liturgy as Catholics is steeped with it. “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” It’s a powerful word but I think we often take it for granted. In Latin, the word we use is “misericordia“. That comes from two roots (I know I’m geeking out here):
miserere – ‘misery’ or ‘pity’
cor – ‘heart’
Have mercy on us then has some sense of the meaning of “relieve me Lord of the misery in my heart.” That’s powerful. We are asking God to take away those things which hurt us and bring in those things which lead to our salvation. That’s what the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are for. As anyone who has ever served the hungry or poor will attest, not only are you helping to relieve the misery of their heart from their state of illness, loneliness, starvation, etc, but you are also being given graces that help you to be lifted up. God has, through His Church given us these wonderful guides that relieve misery for both the person who is performing them and the person receiving them.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when we look at all the things the Church has written. From the Catechism to the Encyclicals, the Code of Canon law to the Sacred Scriptures. For 2000 years, men and women who are on a much higher level of intellect than myself, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have compiled billions of words about Jesus and what it means to be a Christian. One could sit for their entire life and likely not be able to read everything written. I think for me this statement helps: “the sole objective of the Church and her teaching is to promote a relationship between God and mankind that eventually leads to the eternal salvation of the body of believers.”
All of it; the dogma, doctrines, disciplines, and devotions; only serve the purpose of helping us to grow in holiness and follow the roadmap to get to heaven. All of them are set about to attempt to explain to us how to faithfully grow toward the perfection of the Gospel in our own lives and in the life of the Church as a whole. They are there for mercy. To relieve the misery of our hearts. That doesn’t mean we are going to like all of them (I am not particularly fond of fasting). When we don’t do them though, when we go against what is good, holy, and true… we will always find ourselves miserable. So we study our faith not because we have to memorize every word or every single teaching, but that we can see behind it the love of God. That’s what all of this is you know? A love letter from your Father, the one and only God, who seeks to show you how to live to the fullest of who you were created to be.
At the end of Mass, the Priest or Deacon says something similar to “The Mass is ended, go forth to glorify God with your lives.” This is the sending forth, calling you as disciples of Christ to go forth into the world, and help others relieve the misery in their hearts. I’m not always the best at that. I fail often. To that, I say: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your lives” Lord, give me the grace to do better.