Today, we consider that Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in Him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed His name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, His divine nature.

In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to His plan of salvation, He sent His only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal His love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by His words, His actions, and His entire person reveals the mercy of God.

—We need to constantly contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it.

Today, Jesus Christ speaks of the Father, revealing His divine intimacy. With perfect naturalness, Christ refers to a person other than Himself. But His words show a surprising equality between the two: those who can see Jesus, can see the Father as well. Jesus asks us to believe in this mysterious revelation.

We accept this mystery through faith. But we can also understand that it is not impossible for God to be this way: if He is Love, it would be odd if His existence were that of a solitary being (an "eternal bachelor"). To be able to love one must have an “other” to love. "Father" implies the existence of an “Other" (the Son, also eternal) because one can only be a father if there is a child. He is an infinite Father: He is pure Fatherhood. It is this Fatherhood that makes Him different from the Son, though, at the same time, links Him to the Son: They are so infinitely bound, that the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son.

—I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, I believe in God the Holy Spirit. I believe in the one and Triune God.