The Entry Antiphon for this Sunday has three key words which go together Mercy, Praise and Justice. In this Year of Mercy we have been reflecting upon it as the being the Way God choses to interact with the world. Jesus our Lord and Savior is the face, the living embodiment of God’s mercy, the only means by which we are saved. For this gift we must give praise, not because God needs our praise, he does not but rather because, “[He] has no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank [Him} is itself [His] gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to [His] greatness but makes us grow in [His] grace – as the old version of preface IV used to say.
The antiphon points out that we receive this mercy “in the midst of the Temple” which is why every time we celebrate Holy Mass and receive Eucharist we are engraced by His mercy in order to go out and be his face of mercy, as Church gospel, in the world [ Note that the gospel has the 72 going out in pairs, being Church is a communal act, we are not called to do God’s work on our own] . In this way we bring His justice into the world. So if you want a good reason to go to Mass then there it is! We are “mercied up” through our encounter with the God of Mercy so that we can go out “mercy-ing” the world!
God bless you, your families, and the week ahead.
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter