According to His Mercy
Posted on: August 24, 2015
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When people do something society condemns, we hear about the need for them to get “what they deserve” or receive their “just desserts.”
We need to stop for a moment and think whether that’s what we’d want for ourselves. Would we want to get what we deserve?
If we weren’t sinners, we wouldn’t need to go to reconciliation or to ask God’s mercy at the start of Mass. We wouldn’t need Jesus’ sacrifice to cleanse us of our sins. But even though we know we need to acknowledge and confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness, we recognize that our thoughts, words and actions show we don’t deserve the forgiveness and love that God, in his mercy, gives us.
What we’re asking for echoes what the people of Gazara, a city under siege, asked Simon for in 1 Maccabees 13:45-46*:
The men in the city, with their wives and children, went up on the wall with their clothes torn, and they cried out with a loud voice, asking Simon to make peace with them; they said, “Do not treat us according to our wicked acts but according to your mercy.”
We’re asking God to treat us according to his mercy and not to hand out the punishment we deserve.
Do we turn around and fail to show that mercy to others? Do we forgive or nurse grudges? Do we offer others the second chance we want when we make mistakes? Do we really treat other people as our neighbour, with kindness and compassion and understanding?
We need to remember the parable Jesus told about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). When Jesus asked the lawyer which of the men in the parable truly acted as a neighbour to the robbed and injured man, he answered, “The one who showed mercy on him.” The reply?
And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (v.37)
I pray that, each day, we would take Jesus’ words to heart and go about our day with a heart open and ready to show mercy and forgive.
“And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us….” (Matthew 6:12)
(*Scripture quotes taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)
I’m back after taking time off from the blog while my husband took a vacation from work. I hope you find some time to be refreshed and renewed before the September routine starts up again.
A Catholic Convert in Ottawa 