Following his murder, Mr. Godwin’s family appeared on television. And in front of the entire nation, they forgave the murderer. Speaking for the family, his daughter Tonya said, “Each one of us forgives the killer… I forgive you and love you, but most importantly,” she said, “God loves you. God can heal your mind and save your soul.” She says, We want the killer to know, “that God loves him, we love him. Yes we’re hurt, but we have to forgive him because the Bible says if we don’t then the heavenly father won’t forgive us.” Of course she is referring to Matthew chapter 6 verse 15 which says “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Mercy, forgiveness, healing. This is what we celebrate today on this Feast of Divine Mercy. And the Godwin family proclaimed this truth, lived this truth so beautifully.
God loves us. God can heal our minds and save our souls. God calls us to forgive, and by that act of forgiveness, we ourselves are forgiven.
Mr. Godwin's son, Robert Jr, echoed the sentiment shared by his sister. He said, “One thing I do want to say [to the killer] is I forgive him. Because we are all sinners…I’m not happy with what you did, but I forgive you.”
Here is a family, devastated by the senseless death of a dear loved one, but filled with the mercy of God.
St. Peter said in our second reading that that we will have “to suffer through various trials…that our faith is tested”. The death of their loved one at the hands of the Facebook killer certainly tested the faith of the Godwin family, it was certainly a trial. But mercy radiated from this family in a way that truly glorified God.
This is our vocation as Christians: to be filled with the Mercy of God. Mercy was at the heart of Good Friday: the Lord prays, "Father, Forgive Them...have mercy on them...for they know not what they do. Mercy was at the Heart of Easter Sunday: the Lord bursts through lock doors, shows the wounds in his hands and feet, caused by sinners, and announces not his wrath, but peace, peace to all sinners, those who denied him, rejected him, ran away from their vocations, all of us. Today’s Feast celebrates the mercy lavishly poured out upon us by God and the mercy we are in turn to pour out for others.
In the 1930’s a simple Polish nun by the name of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska, received a series of private revelations from the Lord himself regarding Mercy. Now canonized, St. Faustina recorded these private revelations in a diary of about 600 pages detailing a whole program of devotion to the mercy of Jesus Christ. Consider the Lord’s timing in appearing to St. Faustina!
The 1930s was the beginning of an era of unparalleled cruelty of man toward his brother. It saw the rise of totalitarian atheistic governments and rampant materialism and the trampling of basic human freedoms like the right to life. Merciless governments, merciless war crimes, merciless genocides in Europe and Africa, merciless wars over the resources of this earth, merciless religious persecutions, merciless killing of babies, merciless pursuit of wealth at the expense of human life.
The Lord said to St. Faustina, “Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.”
While evil has certainly shown its terrible and ugly face these last hundred years. So has Divine Mercy. In saints like Maximilian Kolbe offering his life to save his fellow concentration camp prisoner, St. Gemma offering the sacrifice of her life for her unborn child, St. Padre Pio and many others who bore the wounds of the holy stigmata out of mercy for the sins of the world, St. Oscar Romero suffering martyrdom for calling the Salvadoran soldiers to show mercy to their political enemies, St. Mother Theresa and her holy sisters engaging in the works of mercy toward the poorest of the poor.
That’s not to mention the proliferation of so many Catholic institutions, institutions that your families have supported these last hundred years. Institutions of mercy right here in Cleveland: rosary hall and matt Talbott, mercifully providing professional substance abuse and mental health services to addicts. Our Catholic hospitals. Catholic Charities. St. Vincent de Paul programs. The hungry have been fed. The sick have been healed. The imprisoned have been visited. The doubtful have been counseled. Those stuck in cycles of sin have been sought out.
Yes, there has been an outpouring of evil in these last hundred years, but there has also been an outpouring of mercy. Opportunities for grace and conversion. So many souls coming to know God’s peace through the font of Christ’s mercy.
In a sense, these last hundred years have been a century of mercy on a massive scale.
Jesus told St Faustina, "I demand from you deeds of mercy... You are to show deeds of mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere."
Always and everywhere. And that’s quite the challenge, isn’t it? To show mercy to murdering facebook killers and annoying neighbors and inconsiderate drivers. To show generosity to God’s poor ones who reach out to you for help despite their rough personalities. To show patience to those who are wandering on the margins of the church or who have even stepped outside her bounds. Always and everywhere means always and everywhere. That’s a challenge. It’s a trial. It’s a test of faith. But by being dedicated to forgiveness and to deeds of mercy, we attain the goal of our faith, the glory of God and the salvation of your souls.
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