Only Mercy Creates

On one occasion last week, I woke up thinking about finances - those of the parish and my own as well. Then, in the chapel, the Spirit led me to a meditation on mercy, where I was given to see a relationship between the two.

It was born of remembering something Pope Francis said, which has stayed with me. He said, “Only mercy creates.” I continue to return to that for hope, because it reminds me that although there is much decline in this present age, there is also mercy.

With regard to the specific relationship between finances and mercy, it seems to me that showing mercy means trusting that God will provide, that we don’t need to “conquer.” By trusting that God will provide - indeed has provided for us, even unto the sacrifice of His Son on the cross - we allow Him to create new things even now.

Just as Adam and Eve were co-creating with God in the beginning before the Fall, so we, when we choose mercy, co-create with God even now, because we allow Him to act. But in this age in which we live, after the Fall, only mercy creates.

A married person, for example, receives new life by being merciful with her spouse, as a priest with his parishioner, and as all of us with our neighbors and co-workers. We permit God to cause new growth when we trust in Him more than in our own arguments or powers of persuasion, or economic influence.

This is how I see the two as connected - finances and mercy. To me, finance is not so much about creating something new, as much as moving money around. Nor do I see investing in stock, for example, as creating anything, per se, even as it accrues interest, since interest comes from some other sector of the market. What does create, however, is the gesture of giving God permission to work in our lives, of entrusting our concerns to His care. Because when God acts, He creates. +