There is an inspiring sermon of St Francis de Sales in which he says, “the throne of God’s mercy is the misery of man.” God could not be merciful – he would almost be denied that quality – if there were not people like you and me to be merciful to. Mercy as defined by St Francis de Sales was “the greater stooping down to help the lesser”. That is a marvellous gesture of consideration: the faithfulness born of tenderness.The other great revelation of the tenderness and mercy of God is described in Luke (Chapter 15): the lost sheep, the lost coin and the story of the prodigal son … that one verse describing the father as he embraces his son: “he kissed him tenderly.” You get tears in your eyes when you think of that. The father ha