Be Merciful
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February 22, 2025“I read from a bookmark this short yet powerful quotation,“One simple act of mercy can change the life of a person who is lost.
”We can recall the Gospel last week how Jesus ignited the hearts of his disciples at the beginning of his ‘Sermon on the Plain’ through challenging their ways of thinking with that of the ways of the Kingdom of God. This 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus continues to fan that flame in His disciple’s hearts bringing it to another level of the ways of the Kingdom of God, “Be merciful as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) A disciple is cursed but responds with blessing, he is hated and responds with love, he is abused and responds with prayer, his things are stolen,he does not seek revenge. In all these situations, Jesus gives way to that one simple yet powerful word, MERCY because all those moments were moments of mercy.These moments of mercy can also break out in our lives anytime, anywhere with anyone.
Like last week’s Gospel, these might seem to be against what we have known, against what we have been doing all along, against our standards of living and perhaps we might even treat it as unfair and unjust. An eye for an eye,tooth for a tooth, the law of retribution must be followed,Lex Talionis is the name of the game. But Jesus has turned our ways of belief upside down, or better yet wesay right side up.
Our world seems to have lost the sight of mercy. We are becoming more and more disengaged with good relationships. Having the different platforms in social media, our culture is changing, we are becoming a culture of blocking, a culture of cancelling. When someone from our friends lists has wronged us, just the tip of the finger and that person vanishes from our lists, - blocked, cancelled, deleted. The immediate response is to take that person out of our life. In the midst of such culture, Jesus reveals to us that forgiveness and love should take the center stage, the law of mercy must be given a place. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) Jesus reminds us of this as one of the basic principles of Christian relationships.
This Jubilee Year 2025, we are encouraged to be pilgrims of hope and one of the ways to make this more tangible in our Christian life is to do the Acts of Mercy, may it be the Spiritual or Corporal Works of Mercy. These are moments of mercy where the love of God is manifested through our deeds.
Remember, a simple act of mercy can change the life of a lost soul and who knows, that lost soul will one day change your life forever.