“The Church must bear witness to the mercy of God revealed in Christ, in the whole of His mission as Messiah, professing it in the first place as a salvific truth of faith and as necessary for a life in harmony with faith, and then seeking to introduce it and to make it incarnate in the lives both of her faithful and as far as possible in the lives of all people of good will” (Dives in misericordia, 12).
Reflecting on these words that the Church should bear witness to God’s mercy, it is worth asking: “The Church – that is, who?” Do these words of the Pope apply only to priests, consecrated persons, lay people more involved in the life of the Church? How does the phrase: “the Church – that is me” sound in my ears? The mission of Jesus and of the whole church is my mission!
Do I know what the mission of the Church is? How do I implement it in my personal life?
How often do I read and ponder the documents of the Church, what says the Pope – the successor of St. Peter?
“I am aflame with love with those who are loving; I suffer with those who are suffering; I am anguished and pained when I look at those who are cold and ungrateful; at such times, I try to make my love of God make amends to Him for those who do not love Him, for those who feed their Saviour with black ingratitude” (Diary 481).
