The Year of Mercy Begins | National Catholic Reporter

The Year of Mercy Begins | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Original Sin is around us, but that original sin is blame, not disobedience (Eve blamed God for not making her like God and all concerned proved it is blame by each blaming the other for their actions - remember, its allegory, no matter what Augustine says).  Why do we still have war and poverty?  We refuse to forgive our enemies - or the poor for being poor.  Forgiveness cures all, but only if we resort to it - and before we are forgiven, we must forgive all others.  While God is anxious to show us Mercy (and I suspect at least some pagan goddesses had mercy in their M.O., since mercy is a part of the divine in our human nature - ad paganism is all about human nature), we are able to stop him by our inability to show it as well.



Cardinal Kasper is an improvement on doctrine of substitutionary attonement, but I would take it farther.  God had no wrath - what he had was a creation - or at least a species - that had separated itself from him because it did not have faith and had blamed - what Jesus did was feel that blame of self that God could never feel, so that through him we might be blameless in our own eyes.  Of course, if the Church believed that (as it should, because scripture supports it), it would have no trouble withdrawing its condemnation toward the remarried and the gay married - for they would realize that morality like the sabbath,is for our benefit - not to fulfill some commandment attributed to God.



As for Puerto Rico, it should simply accept mercy for itself and stiff its vulture bondholders.  While it would be nice if the vultures quit blaming the poor for being poor, San Juan should not wait for their spiritual awakening to ignore them.



The Year of Mercy is a good time to talk about these things - and I hope someone challenges me for pushing the envelope rather than ignoring me.  It is also essential to bring us back into encounter with God - so if you go through the door you receive Confession and Communion.  Of course, the confession part would be easier if Francis headed off the sexual Jansenests and put some of the more common sexual sins into their right category as venial.  Until then, I fear people will stay away from Reconciliation (though they may go through the doors and will hopefully go back to Communion - having done nothing to keep themselves from it - that includes missing a few Sunday Masses).