Psychological Healing
in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

Questions and Answers

Why do we say, Kýrie, eléison—“Lord, have mercy”? Doesn’t this mean that God will overlook our sins?

 
When most of us say, “Lord, have mercy,” we are really thinking, “Lord, go easy on me because I’m lazy, and I’m too arrogant and too self-indulgent to be willing to surrender myself completely to Your love.” 

Psychologically, most of us are lazy and arrogant because, as a result of growing up in families that manipulate us into obedience to arbitrary authority through game-playing and emotional dishonesty, some dark part of us believes we are worthless and don’t deserve the purity of genuine love. That proud, hard heart, however, is just a hollow shell covering up our inner fear.

What is it everyone fears? We’re all afraid that if we really change our lives and witness the truth, our families will reject us. We’re afraid that our husbands or wives will divorce us and we will lose a nice, comfortable life. We’re afraid that our co-workers and friends will criticize us. We’re afraid that our social prestige will suffer. We’re afraid that our careers will be threatened. In short, we’re afraid of what we might lose.

Now, in its psychological sense, mercy means to withhold some—or all—of the punishment demanded by justice, if the guilty person shows deep sorrow for his or her behavior and is willing to set aside his or her fears and trust completely in God.

In its additional theological implications, mercy can also involve showing kindness to others in the hope that they might overcome their fear and, feeling sorrow for their sins, turn to God’s mercy. This follows from the compassionate example of Christ Himself who sat with sinners, not to wink at their sins, but to call them to repentance.

Read an excerpt from the writings of Saint Catherine of Genoa
about God’s love and patience

And so, if you understand your theology, you will see that God is always offering His mercy, despite our arrogance. All we have to do is accept His mercy, despite our fears.

I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force me to do so; my hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of Justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy. . . .

I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. . . .

Tell sinners that no one shall escape My hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands.

—told to Saint Faustina by Jesus,
Diary (1588, 1146, 1728)

The problem, then, is that in our proud, hardened hearts we refuse to accept the mercy so graciously offered to us. In trying to defend our self-esteem from the emotional wounds of family dysfunction, we try to convince ourselves that we are self-sufficient, and we end up believing that begging for mercy is just another game—like all family games—that will lead to more humiliation.

And we often, like Jonah, begrudge God’s gift of mercy to others.

For to make heretical claims, as many do today—saying that hell does not exist, and that sin is an outdated concept irrelevant to today’s world, and that everyone will go to heaven “because God loves us”—only serves as a psychological defense against the terror of human brokenness. And, like all heresies, such claims injure others because they deny to others the truth that they need in order to repent their sins and turn to divine mercy.

To trust in The Divine Mercy is to believe in the reality of sin and to tremble before the Divine Justice that punishes all unrepentant sin.

Therefore, to say, “Lord, have mercy” in full spiritual honesty means that you are begging God not to be easy on you but to give you the life experiences that will break you and humble you—not humiliate you—and crack open your hardened heart. Then, in that crack of contrition, maybe true love will begin to take root and grow, and spread and transform the hardness into life.

And divine mercy does not stop there, with pure contrition—that is, when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins. Even humble, repentant souls striving for holiness need to adore Christ’s mercy.

I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is—trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts.

—told to Saint Faustina by Jesus,
Diary (1578)

True Christian life, therefore, is not just a matter of the initial repentance; it requires a constant struggle to provide a good return on the investment of graces that God makes in us (Matthew 25:14-30). And we can do this only by detaching ourselves from the illusions of this world and trusting completely in God—adoring God’s mercy for our own good, and performing works of mercy for the good of others.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

— Matthew 5:7

 

What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.
 

 

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