The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
(Psalm 145, echoing Exodus)
In his article, The Mercy of God, Pope Francis explains these terms of covenant language:
The Lord is merciful: this word evokes a tender approach like that of a mother toward her child. Indeed, the Hebrew term used in the Bible evokes the viscera or even the maternal womb. Therefore, the image it suggests is that of a God who is moved and who softens for us like a mother when she takes her child in her arms, wanting only to love, protect, help, ready to give everything, even herself. This is the image that this term evokes. A love, therefore, which can be defined in the best sense as visceral.
Then it is written that the Lord is gracious, in the sense of having grace, he has compassion and, in his greatness, he bends down to those who are weak and poor, ever ready to welcome, to understand, and to forgive. He is like the father in the parable recounted in the Gospel of Luke (cf. Lk 15: 11-32): a father who does not withdraw in resentment at the younger son for having forsaken him, but on the contrary, he continues to await him – he begot him – and then he runs to meet him and embraces him. […] To [the older son] too, the father bends down, invites him to enter, tries to open his heart to love, so that no one is excluded from the celebration of mercy. Mercy is a celebration!
It is also said of this merciful God that he is slow to anger, literally, of great breadth, that is, having a broad capacity of forbearance and patience. God knows how to wait, his time is not the impatient one of man; he is like the wise farmer who knows how to wait, allowing time for the good seed to grow, in spite of the weeds (cf. Mt 13: 24-30).
Lastly, the Lord proclaims himself abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. How beautiful this definition of God is! It is all-encompassing. For God is great and powerful, and this greatness and power are used to love us, who are so small, so incompetent. The word love used here indicates affection, grace, goodness. It is not soap opera love… It is love which takes the first step, which does not depend on human merit but on immense gratuitousness. It is divine solicitude that nothing can impede, not even sin, because it is able to go beyond sin, to overcome evil and forgive it.
Abounding in faithfulness… God’s faithfulness never fails, because the Lord is the guardian who, as the Psalm says, never slumbers but keeps constant vigil over us in order to lead us to life…
This merciful God is faithful in his mercy and St. Paul says something beautiful: if you are not faithful to him, he will remain faithful, for he cannot deny himself. Faithfulness in mercy is the very being of God. For this reason, God is totally and always trustworthy. A solid and steady presence. This is the assurance of our faith. [So] let us entrust ourselves to him totally, and experience the joy of being loved by this God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness.
--Pope Francis, The Mercy of God
Image source: https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-mercy-of-god-helps-us-to-be-merciful
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