January brings a new year filled with hope that this one will be better than the last. In this new year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and begin our journey to His death and resurrection, the word that comes to mind is mercy.

In my role as Director of Catholic Cemeteries, I sometimes find myself in the midst of family disputes that resurface when a family needs their Catholic cemetery. It is in these moments when a family is suffering through the pain brought on by the death of a loved one, that the pain of transgressions, perceived or real, seem to rush back and interfere with a time that should be dedicated to prayer and peace. It is in mercy that we find much needed peace and the opportunity to do as Jesus instructed when He told us to forgive.

Webster defines mercy as “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power”, but the definition I prefer is, “a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion” as used in the statement: “May God have mercy on us.” It is in this definition that we find God’s intent when He sent us His son, to live amongst us and to share our joys and pain. The King of Kings, born into poverty and set on a journey of forgiveness and mercy. How can we not be moved by such a sacrifice made for each one of us? It does not matter the circumstance in which we find ourselves, because God’s love is for each one of us and mercy is what connects us to our neighbor and to those seen as the other.

There are seven Corporal Works of Mercy, but we focus on our work of the mercy of burying the dead. When anger clouds our judgement and we are blinded by a past that no longer matters, it is crucial that we find in our hearts a way toward mercy as further defined in Webster’s, a “lenient or compassionate treatment” of the dead.

Anger can consume us, and we must reflect on our lives with the realization that we are all sinners, and our faults should be clear when looking in a mirror. When we see ourselves as flawed, it is in that candid view that mercy can remove the cloud of judgement and bring peace to our own hearts. God so loved us that He sent us a Savior, a son, a being more powerful than any of us could begin to imagine, and He allowed us to put His son on a cross. A death designed to inflict unbearable pain and to ensure that the death would solidify the unimportance of the one crucified. God sent His only son to change the world and a death meant to erase His design solidified Christ as the Son of Man.

With a new year upon us, let us be more like our Savior in how we view the other; our enemy, our persecutor or just someone who we once loved and now have only hardness in our heart for them. Allow mercy to wash away the anger and remember that we bury each person without judgement, as it is our corporal work of mercy to bury the dead.

Andrej Laj

Director of Cemeteries