Rich in mercy

My reflection on the gospel for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-66, 80), reminded me that ever since Adam, who God formed “out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7), names mean something.

“The man gave his wife the name “Eve,” because she was the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:20)

“She named him Moses; for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”  (Exodus 2:10)

“She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.”” (Matthew 1:21-23)

“He shall be called John.” (Luke 1:60)  

I did a little research on the name “John”.  The Hebrew name for John is a combination of Jah (God) and hanan (mercy)!  God is merciful.

One of the most frequent prayers in Scripture is “Lord have mercy on me”.  In the Old Testament one of the most known uses is in Psalm 51:1: “Be merciful to me, O God, according to Your loving kindness.  According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.” 

We must all live on the edge of God’s mercy.  We must not be afraid to jump into the abyss of His kindness.   There’s a great democracy among all of us.   We all exist on the margins of God’s mercy.  Paul said it well: “For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:15)   God’s mercy is our ultimate reality!  This is true not just because we’ve sinned and need forgiveness, but our very existence is an effect of His mercy.  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.” (Ephesians 2:4)