Our legalistic world has educated us in French Jansenism, which 
obsessed on the justice of God while denying the mercy of God. We have been raised and we interact with what we call “Sunday obligation” thinking that God would be angry at us if don’t fulfill the obligation. 
   When she discovered God’s tender love for her, St. Therese of Lisieux wrote with unutterable joy, “I would throw myself into Jesus’ arms, for I know how much he loves the prodigal child who returns to Him.” Today’s Gospel, on the 4th and middle Sunday of the journey of Lent.
   Most people don’t believe in an angry God today, but almost all of us think that “Mother Nature” is angry at us (think of Apple’s 2023 “Mother Nature” ad for their line of “green” products) or our reaction towards the fires, tornadoes, rain and storms these days. We feel guilty for “ruining the planet,” but the more guilty we feel the more we drive all over creation in our coal-fired electric cars or book tickets on massive airplanes to escape our depression. Let’s at least admit it: we consume unprecedented amounts of the earth’s resources while claiming to respect the planet. And that makes us unhappy, because we are afraid of God’s justice (or that of Mother Nature or whatever we think of as the higher power).
   With Therese, let’s rediscover mercy! We live under friendly skies, and God is not angry with us. He longs to sweep us up in his arms, to hold us close to His Heart. Yes, we are miserable hypocrites, but God is greater! “The greater the sinner,” Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “the greater the right he has to My mercy.” The cost of love, though, is humility. We have to accept God’s mercy, confessing that “without the Lord, we cannot [live]….” (as Emeritus of Abitinae said 
in 304 AD). 
   Christ’s heart was slashed open on the Cross, pouring forth oceans of mercy. Mary’s heart was pierced as well, but she suffered quietly. We are afraid to look at the bloody gore on the Cross, but we are not afraid to look at the beautiful Mother. Even the US Postal Service still issues a stamp every Christmas with the most-painted scene in history of Mary with her Child. And we are that child. If you are afraid to look at God, don’t worry. God has given us a mother to “protect” us from his blazing omnipotence. Pray the rosary, with devotion, and you will surely see the God whom no man can see and live, as Jesus reveals in the parable of the prodigal son Father!