Divine Mercy
Reconciliation Amongst Unlikely Allies
On April 3, 2016, I was invited by Jesuit priest the Rev. George Williams to attend the Roman Catholic mass over which he presided at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, the Catholic chapel at California’s San Quentin State Prison. While it is technically a no-no, Fr. George invited me to participate fully, including receiving Holy Communion. Fr. George, now retired from prison ministry, served as the Catholic chaplain at the notorious prison for a decade. Upon his departure from his call in 2021, he referred to his service at San Quentin as “the best and happiest years of my life.” An advocate for prisoners’ rights, abolition of capital punishment, and a program known as Restorative Justice, Fr. George has also been an ally to those suffering from mental illnesses, those on the margins of society, and the LGBTQ+ population. He was a voice of advocacy for protection for the transgender inmates serving time at San Quentin, and he is a champion of progressive theology and interdenominational dialogue. A friend of fellow Jesuit, the Rev. Jim Martin, some of their adventures together are described in detail in Fr. Jim’s book, Jesus: A Pilgrimage.
April 3 of that year was the Second Sunday of Easter. Since 2000, the Roman Catholic Church has celebrated a feast day called Divine Mercy Sunday on the Second Sunday of Easter each year, considered to be the final day of the Novena of Easter. By papal declaration, Roman Catholics are taught that if they have made a sincere confession recently, and if they attend mass and receive Holy Communion on that day, then their sins are completely wiped away. This theology is similar to that of baptism, although baptism is once and forever. The indulgences of Divine Mercy Sunday are available to the faithful each year.
This is a day I will never forget. You see, there was a stark contrast between the celebration we observed in the chapel and the lived experiences of those who were sitting all around me. Most of those in attendance wore the familiar blue prison uniforms of the California Department of Corrections. Their attire consists of a (usually oversized for comfort) blue work shirt and blue pants resembling scrubs worn by medical professionals. In bright yellow lettering on the back of their shirts and up and down the legs of their pants, inmates are identified with “CDC Prisoner”. While they were assured of the mercy of a loving God on that day, each of them returned to a 4’ x 10’ cell they share with a cell mate (colloquially known as a celly). The room is big enough for a bunk bed, a narrow walkway, and a steel sink/toilet combination that has no toilet seat and offers no privacy. Even more stark is the proximity of the infamous Adjustment Center, San Quentin’s notorious “prison within a prison.” It is reserved for those deemed to be the most dangerous to themselves and to others. There are no windows, no airflow, and no furniture in the Adjustment Center. Also known as the hole, the Adjustment Center is a place where inmates are in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day.
As I walked out of the chapel, past the Adjustment Center, and through the security checkpoint, and I turned and saw the “apple green” ventilation shaft used to expel lethal gas from San Quentin’s infamous gas chamber, I was struck by the grief that some human beings experience such severe brokenness that they not only choose to commit horrendous acts, but that they also will never receive mercy from society during this lifetime. That our God could be so loving, so merciful, so awesome as to continue to love these individuals—people deemed so awful by society that we collectively have decided to kill some of them—is something I hope I never take for granted.
This is where we experience the paradox of human existence. Is there a sin so horrible that not even God can forgive it? Can a human person who behaves so badly that society determines they ought to be cast aside, or even killed, still be loved in the eyes of God? For those of us who are followers of Jesus, our Christian faith teaches us that one of the mysterious attributes of God is mercy. God, by God’s own very nature, is merciful. To impose our human biases on God is to limit the almighty power of an almighty God. God can do whatever God wants. And if God wants to bestow mercy upon someone, even if that person has exhibited the most vile human behavior imaginable, then God gets to do that. As Divine Mercy Sunday reminds us, mercy is available to all who are penitent.
We have arrived at an interesting point in the history of the United States. The dominoes are beginning to fall. After a decade of having to hear the harmful, cruel, narcissistic, and incoherent rhetoric of Donald Trump, some of his staunchest supporters are finally beginning to turn on him. For those of us who have opposed his candidacy, his presidency, his whining about the “stolen” election of 2020, and his subsequent reelection in 2024, it is a challenging time. How do we welcome people to align with us when they have been vocal in calling us names, flinging insults, telling us we’re “not true Christians”, or even telling us we have something called “Trump Derangement Syndrome”?
In the past weeks, persons who had been closely aligned with the “Make America Great Again” movement have publicly denounced Donald Trump. Why? Well, for one thing, he started an unnecessary war. He kidnapped the leader of Venezuela and had the leader of Iran assassinated. Then, he dropped an F-bomb in an Easter Day message to the country, and subsequently threatened genocide by saying, “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Is that what finally did it? Is that what finally got pundits like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Alex Jones to publicly denounce the president’s behavior? Should these people be applauded for having hit something of a “rock bottom”? I have only come to two conclusions: I don’t know, and it isn’t for me to worry about. I’m simply glad it’s finally happening.
If you’re a frequent reader, then you know that I have been vocal in opposition when the president has made policies that are cruel or behaved in ways that are not appropriate. This has come at a cost. Parishioners, and even colleagues, have warned me against being “too political.” Some have cut their pledges. Some have walked away. At the same time, because my very soul, and the souls of my flock are far more important to me than any financial consequences, I have continued to speak up and to speak out. As Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew’s gospel, “what will it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?” (Matt. 8:36). I simply could not sit back and do absolutely nothing while people continue to suffer and while people in my community are afraid. If someone disagrees with me, that is not my problem to solve. At the same time, I decided for myself that I would not sit back and say nothing. I have a platform with tens of thousands of followers. As Uncle Ben says in the Spider-Man movies, with great power comes great responsibility. I have a responsibility to use my platform for good, even if it means a few people are going to be angry with me.
And for as vocal as I have been, there have been others who have either been unable or unwilling to speak out publicly. Again, this is not my problem to solve. They are responsible for their own decisions. However, it is those who have been the president’s cheerleaders who have caused me the most heartache. Many of us have been wondering for the past ten years, what will it take? When will enough finally be enough? When will it be too much? When will the ends no longer justify the means? It wasn’t an audio tape of him bragging about committing sexual assault. It wasn’t his multiple affairs. It wasn’t the hush money he paid to a porn star. It wasn’t his comments calling other countries “shitholes.” It wasn’t his conspiracy theories, his dangerous stances on vaccines, his incompetence as a leader, or even his failed first presidency. It wasn’t even his ridiculous (not to mention racist) claims that Haitian immigrants were “eating the dogs, eating the cats”. Dropping an F-bomb on Easter. That was the straw that finally broke for many. I’ll take it.
It isn’t up to me to judge the president or his followers. It isn’t up to me to determine whether they are worthy of mercy for their unquestionably poor behavior. That’s up to God, and to God alone. But I am tired of their actions and rhetoric continuing to inflict pain, suffering, and fear on so many. I am glad that even some of his most vocal supporters are giving up on him, no matter the catalyst that finally made it happen. I am hopeful more and more continue to recognize that electing him and then reelecting him to an office he has no business holding was a mistake. I dread the years and years it will take for our country to heal and for our former allies to trust us once again. I fear the wrath of those who remain loyal to him, and who are angry with me for speaking up. I do not know that the United States will ever be the country it was prior to November 8, 2016.
This year, as I write this on the Second Sunday of Easter, the day many Christians around the world celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, I am grateful that it is God’s job, and not mine, to be merciful. I am grateful for the prospect of a renewed sense of hope. If these staunch supporters can have a change of heart, then perhaps others will follow in their footsteps soon enough. Maybe now that even Pope Leo XIV has openly criticized the Trump administration for its crimes, more faith leaders will feel empowered to speak out. If we are truly followers of Jesus, then we have a responsibility to listen to his teachings. I can think of none more important than his explicit instructions in Matthew 25:40 to care “for the least of those who are members of my family.” This takes precedence over full offering basins. It takes precedence over the comfort of those who “don’t like his rhetoric, but like what he’s doing for the country.” It takes precedence over our own livelihoods. If we are faithful followers of Jesus, then we are called to put our trust in him and to do the work he asks us to do. It was Jesus, after all, who said, “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). You can hate me for speaking up. I do not hate you in return. And I love Jesus more than I love myself. As he said in this same discourse during the Last Supper, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
I have seen too much pain, too much suffering, too much fear to stay silent. I still feel chills in my spine as I imagine the sound of the slamming of gates and cellblocks at San Quentin. I occasionally have nightmares about the atrocities committed in my name in the form of executions at San Quentin in the gas chamber and then on the lethal injection table. Those same nightmares recur when an execution is scheduled in my home state of Arizona (in case you’re wondering, Leroy McGill is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 20). Party politics are not my thing. The gospel is. And when our society claims to be a Christian nation, then we’d damn sure better step up to the plate and live into the ideals that Jesus expects us to uphold. When we are assured of the mercy of our loving God, it’s never too late to come around. And while mercy is an attribute of God, it can be a bit more challenging for God’s people. If people continue to come around, then I’m grateful. I assure you, God is grateful as well. Perhaps, with continued prayer and repentance, and probably a whole lot of patience, afflicted people can be merciful to their new allies as well.
Thank you Fr. Tim for being a trailblazer as well as Pope Leo and saying what others have been afraid to say. Hopefully soon more members of Trump's inner circle, supporters and religious organizations will get a conscience, speak up and realize the pompous ass he is and realize what a narcissistic, bully, egotistical, power hungry, self absorbed, disrespectful, no holds barred loose canon who doesn't have all his faculties kind of person. He has made a mockery of the U.S. so far and IMO more to come.