Be Merciful.

Homily for February 26, 2018.

“For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Luke 6:38.

Not too long ago, we celebrated a jubilee year of mercy. It was an opportunity for world as a whole to reflect deeper on the theme of mercy. What does it mean to be merciful and why is mercy such an important virtue in the spiritual life?

To put it as simple as possible, following the words of Jesus in Luke 6:36-38, Mercy is refraining from judging and condemning others, mercy is the ability to forgive those who offend us, mercy is giving to those in need, mercy is doing charity without counting the cost.

It is one thing to identify something bad in someone’s behaviour, it is one thing to point out the errors of others for correction but it is a different thing altogether to judge and condemn a person, (which means drawing a permanent conclusion about a person). It is throwing out both the baby and the bath water. It is the most merciless thing anyone can do to a fellow human being.

When you judge/condemn me, you stop seeing me as a person but as something, you identify me with my problem and you no longer believe I can amount to anything better. However, being merciful on the other hand is knowing what my problem is yet showing me love by giving me a way out of my predicament.

To the most hardened of sinners, Jesus applied mercy; he ate and drank with them, he gave them a sense of belonging, he made them feel loved and accepted such that even without Jesus preaching repentance, they felt the strong urge to turn away from their sins. Like we saw in the movie, “Beauty and the Beast”, mercy is being able to love the Beast despite its ugliness so that its true nature as a handsome man can come out.

The second aspect of mercy is forgiveness. Jesus says “forgive and you will be forgiven.” God’s mercy is clearly revealed in the largeness of his heart to forgive. Ezekiel 33:11 says: “As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Once more we must note that forgiveness is not the same thing as condoning evil. It is rather it the act of freeing a prisoner from one’s heart only to realize that the real prisoner is you. If we do not forgive, we become worse than our enemies in the sense that we try to use evil to cure evil. It never works.

The third aspect of Mercy as Jesus describes in Luke 6:36-38, is charity; giving – helping the needy. To be merciful is to put oneself in the shoes of another. It is being able to feel the pains of others as our own pains and doing something to alleviate their plight. Jesus says “the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” This statement is quite similar to the parable of Jesus in Matthew 25:34-36:

“Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”

Being merciful is such an important virtue because without it, we cannot claim to be children of God neither can we be rest assured of entrance into Paradise on the last day. Your best possible life can only happen when you are merciful. Be merciful, do not hold up hatred in your heart, do not be stingy with your gifts and your life will surely make a difference in this world.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, take away my heart of stone and give me a merciful heart like yours. Amen.

Be happy, live positive, it is well with you. Monday of the 2^nd Week of Lent. Bible Study: Daniel 9:4-10 and Luke 6:36-38.