Dear Saints,

One working definition of “an economy” is a complex system of interrelated production, consumption, and exchange activities that ultimately determine the allocation of limited resources. It’s a constant cycle of supply and demand, pursuit and satisfaction, debt and collection. Most of us intuitively grasp the concept of economy - especially the “limited resources” part!

But there’s also a divine economy that’s much more difficult for us to understand, in part because it’s a starkly different kind of exchange. Founded upon a plan of sheer goodness, God’s economy is not a system of give-and-take. It is an institution of love.

In particular, it is mercy - that is, love encountering evil and overcoming it, not by force but by redemption. It is the Father accepting his Son’s sacrifice for a debt he did not owe so that we can get out from under a debt we cannot pay. God’s economy is kindness repaid to unkindness, gentleness repaid to anger, and self-gift repaid to self-seeking.

Pope Francis once remarked that the economy of salvation “does not crush, but cultivates, repairs, and protects.” He knew what it meant to have mercy. May we follow in his footsteps. Today and always, may we extend mercy to everyone we encounter, secure in the knowledge that mercy was first extended to us.

In the peace of the risen Christ,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ