Isn't the whole point of mercy that you DON'T deserve it?

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ToeInTheWater

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So, I was thinking about the Divine Mercy Devotion, and apparently how some “traditionalists” frown on the devotion for not requiring any penance or sacrifice on the part of the devotee and essentially offering a “get out of jail” card.

Indeed, in much of the discussions on CAF about AL, annulments, the possibility that non-Catholics or unbaptized infants will be saved, some who identify as “traditionalist” or “conservative” seem to get very disturbed by the idea that “God, or the Church is going to grant mercy to someone who doesn’t deserve it, that’s not fair”.

On the other hand, some “liberals” do seem to think “I deserve mercy, I have a right to the Eucharist because there’s no way I can get out of my sinful situation, I have a right to an annulment because the divorce wasn’t my fault, and if the Church doesn’t grant me mercy, then they’re being unfair.”

But, isn’t the whole point of mercy, that we DON’T deserve it? If we did “deserve” something out of “fairness”, that wouldn’t be a case of God granting it to us out of mercy. We’d have the “right” to it as a matter of justice.

Of course I could be completely wrong, but that’s how I see it.
 
Whether or not we deserve mercy, God in His great love for us, gives us mercy and he did so while we were still sinners in becoming man in Jesus Christ.

If God decided humble himself by become a man and to live among sinners, allowing sinners to torture him to death in order that they might be saved, what level of mercy could ever be matched ?

We may not deserve mercy, but then, we had no choice about being born into original sin, requiring mercy.

The best we can do is be grateful to God for His mercy.

Jim
 
Great points OP. It brings to mind this classic quote from St. Augustine: “Despair not; one of the thieves was saved. Presume not; one of the thieves was damned.”
 
TheAmazingGrace said:
Great points OP. It brings to mind this classic quote from St. Augustine: “Despair not; one of the thieves was saved. Presume not; one of the thieves was damned.”
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Like that one!

You can only ask for mercy, you can’t be certain it’s been given! So do you best to show gratitude.
 
Crusaderbear said:
Like that one!

You can only ask for mercy, you can’t be certain it’s been given! So do you best to show gratitude.
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Right. I think it does say a lot about someone when they care enough to admit that they need mercy and ask for it.
 
I had a Sunday School teacher explain it to me this way when I was a kid:

Justice is getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
 
BlueEyedLady said:
I had a Sunday School teacher explain it to me this way when I was a kid:

Justice is getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
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Or mercy is for something you had no control over.

None of us chose to be born into original sin and to suffer from the consequences.

Yet, God in his mercy, provides us with the path to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Or mercy is for something you had no control over.

None of us chose to be born into original sin and to suffer from the consequences.

Yet, God in his mercy, provides us with the path to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jim
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👍👍👍
 
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