I realize as I finish writing this that it is currently 1:45 AM on a Wednesday. So if you catch any grammatical errors or sentences that don't make any sense, my apologies in advance.
One of my favorite TV shows ever is "The Office." The humor in this show is directly on par with mine and a lot of the characters on the show are always people I can relate to (except Creed...if you can relate to Creed, then you should check yourself).
In Season 4, there is an episode where Michael attempts to run away by hopping on a train. He's terribly in debt because his recently unemployed girlfriend, Jan, has been blowing his money on extremely unnecessary things (at one point they traded in both their cars to buy a Porsche...for Jan).
Jan catches Michael before the train departs (the train never really leaves...it stopped in Scranton) and attempts to convince him that running away from his problems is not the way to go. In this dialogue she says something really profound and, to me, possibly even theological:
Michael no, what I want to say is you were there for me. By my side. Without even a thought. That's just who you are. No matter how badly I treat you or...what I'm going through, you are there for me.
There are two connections I want to make here:
Firstly, Michael is like...well...a sinner. As a flawed human being, running away from my mistakes is often my default reaction. After falling, thoughts in my head start to pop-up. Thoughts like, "I can't deal with this," or, "Whose gonna forgive this?" Thus, the guilt settles in and I run away from my mistakes.
Secondly, Michael is like God. No matter how many times I treat Him badly, no matter what I'm going through, He is there for me. No matter how many times I've fallen, no matter how flawed I've become, He is at my side. I know what you're thinking: "Did he just compare God to a blabbering, moronic, imbecile of a regional manager?" Of course. Let me explain.
We're all victims (myself definitely included) of this mistaken concept of human worth. When Simon Peter first realizes Jesus is God, what is the first thing he says? "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8) When I realize that I've fallen, when I realize how flawed I am, I often think to run away and basically say, "I have failed you God, and I am not worthy of Your mercy."
But God doesn't accept the defeatist talk. Cardinal Tagle, from the Philippines, on speaking about the Parables of the Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-10) at World Youth Day, said this:
When we ask the shepherd, "You had 99 healthy sheep. Why? Why did you look for a sick, wounded, dumb sheep? Why? You have nine other coins. Why sweep the whole house for this one useless coin?" And you know what the shepherd will say? What the woman who swept the house said? "Yes, you may be a wounded sheep. You may be a lost, wounded coin. But you are mine. You belong to me. You don't have to prove, you don't have to earn my love. You are mine. You may be wounded, you may be scarred, you may be limping, but here I am!
We are made worthy because of the mere fact that we are God's. Divine Mercy does not depend on whether we are void of sin or mistakes. Divine Mercy does not go away when we fall, in fact it increases in us. As the ending prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet puts it so eloquently:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us, and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
Love and Mercy itself. That's just who He is.
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, pray for us!
St. John Paul II, pray for us!
