Etymologically, “mercy” derives from misericordis, which means opening one’s heart to wretchedness. And immediately we go to the Lord: mercy is the divine attitude which embraces, it is God giving himself to us, accepting us, and bowing to forgive.
Jesus said he came not for those who were good but for the sinners. He did not come for the healthy, who do not need the doctor, but for the sick. For this reason, we can say that mercy is God’s identity card. God of mercy, merciful God. For me, this really is the Lord’s identity.
I was always impressed by the story of Jerusalem as it told in chapter 16 of the Book of Ezekiel. The story compares Jerusalem to a little girl whose umbilical cord wasn’t cut. God saw her wallowing in blood, he washed the blood from her, he anointed her, he dressed her, and when she grew up he adorned her with silk and jewels. But she, infatuated with her own beauty, became a harlot, not for money but paying her lovers herself. God, however, will never forget his covenant and he will place her above her sisters so that Jerusalem will remember and be ashamed (Ezekiel 16:63), when she is forgiven for what she has done.
For me this is one of the most important revelations: you will continue to be the chosen people and all your sins forgiven …. I can read my life in light of chapter 16 of the Book of Ezekiel. I read [this chapter] and I say: everything here seems written just for me.
Source: The Name of God is Mercy: A Conversation with Andrea Tornielli, pp. 8-9.
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