Mercy, Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Kasper makes a nice start, but does not go far enough. The key scripture when considering the mercy and justice of God is when the Lord says "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light. (Matthew 11:28-30)" In other words, the justice of the Lord is not for the Lord, it is for us. The justice of the Lord is the Mercy of the Lord. It is how we live our human lives best. More importantly, where a moral precept has been made and it is not merciful it is also not just. That must be true with divorce and with who can get married.
God never says, sorry, you are out of luck - you must suffer. It is both just and merciful to say that a physically abuse marriage is ended or that a long time companion whose husband lay dying is the legitimate next of kin when others would exclude him from making the appropriate decisions a spouse makes. The perfection of God is His love for us - for the law is for us, not for God. God is necessary for us, but we are not necessary for God. He is not offended when we err - but when we likewise show no mercy to the other. Indeed, all the requirements to do right by the poor are acts of mercy and also justice - for no one owns the bounty of the Lord, it is given to us all and must be shared by all. That is true in ancient agricultural societies and in modern Capitalism - and woe those who do not deal mercifully with those who depend upon them.
Let me add that we need to get justice and mercy out of the world of sin and confession. The desire to set up sins that people must confess to or be damned is pathological.
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