Dives in Misericordia - Jesus' Message of Mercy

Jesus' Message of Mercy

The Pope places a special emphasis on Jesus' teaching mission to the poor, the sick, the sinners and the outcast: "Especially through His lifestyle and through His actions, Jesus revealed that love is present in the world in which we live.... This love makes itself particularly noticed in contact with suffering." Tying this with Jesus' claim that "He who has seen me has seen the Father," John Paul points out that this reveals a similar merciful love for all in the world, especially those who suffer.

To discuss Jesus' teachings on mercy, John Paul puts forth the Parable of the Prodigal Son as an especially vivid illustration of God's mercy for man. John Paul stresses the interior need of the son that brings about his need for reconciliation. Above all, he enlarges on the reaction of the son's father, who welcomes him with unbounded merciful love, rather than a mere insistence on justice. John Paul points out that the father's reaction is based on more than mere sentiment, but on a deeper understanding of what his son really needs: "Notice, the father is aware that a fundamental good has been saved: the good of his son's humanity. Although the son has squandered the inheritance, nevertheless his humanity is saved." The Pope makes the point that this parable illustrates that mercy is best judged not from the mere externals, but from a deeper examination of what it does to the interior of man.