Tag: mercy

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18:21–19:1)

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.” Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, “Pay back what you owe.” Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.” But he refused.

After Peter approaches Jesus and asks him how often he must forgive others, Jesus tells him not seven times but seventy-seven times. Then Jesus tells Peter the parable of the king settling accounts with his servants. The king, pitying his servant forgives him his debt, but that same servant encounters a fellow servant who owes him, and he refuses to forgive him. In today’s Gospel, Matthew conveys several teachings of Christ relating to forgiveness and mercy. Like the king, God forgives us our debt. By contrast, the threatening demand of the wicked servant—“Pay back what you owe.”—brings to mind grudges that are easily held onto for months and years. What does Jesus say to Peter about this except to forgive your brother from your heart?

God, help me learn at all times to love your merciful heart. Give me the grace I need to let go of grudges, which always result in separation from you. The burden of unforgiveness never fails to prevent me from conforming my heart perfectly to Jesus your Son. But your mercy, Lord, is boundless, and you invite me again and again to imitate you. “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,” the king asks, “as I had pity on you?” Teach me to have mercy on others without counting the cost; never let it separate me from you.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.” Make me a means of your mercy to others.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus speaks to the disciples in today’s Gospel about judging others. It is not altogether wrong to acknowledge the faults of others. However, he calls attention to judgment that is arrogant and self-righteous while ignoring one’s own flaws. Jesus calls those who judge in this way hypocrite. One’s own serious faults need to be addressed and corrected first before addressing the minor flaws—the splinter—of others. “Stop judging,” Jesus says, “that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” Be merciful to others, Jesus teaches, just as God is merciful to us.

God, help me make sense of today’s Gospel in light of the people I encounter. Judgmental by habit, I ask you for the grace to see how judgment binds me; fault-finding by nature, I ask for your mercy, despite my own faults. Work through me, Lord, so that I can remain in you and end any division that would keep me from staying close to my brother. Help me see myself and others clearly so that I can do your work.

Be with me today, Lord; let me be a means of your kindness. From the Gospel acclamation: “The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

“My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the well-known parable of the prodigal son, explaining to the scribes and Pharisees how tax collectors and sinners were coming to him to listen to him. The scribes and Pharisees believed Jesus and his disciples should not associate with such people. The parable of the prodigal son teaches that God’s mercy and forgiveness are available to all who repent and return to him, no matter how far they may have strayed. It also warns against jealousy and the danger of thinking that one’s own righteousness makes for superiority to others. To be able to return to the Father is to experience his great mercy.

God, help me understand the nature of your mercy and generosity expressed in this parable. The father rejoices in the return of the younger son—dead and come to life again—but he also affirms the older son’s place at home with him and the inheritance he will come into. For the father, the joy is doubled because the son who was lost returns and the faithful son has all that belongs to the father. That generosity extends beyond possession; the father has nothing he calls exclusively his own. Good Father in heaven, you take me back when I have been away and return, when I have been lost and again find my way to you, when I die to whatever is not you and through you come back to life.

Lord, help me receive your embrace today—the same way I have countless times in absolution after going to confession. From the first reading from Micha: “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt?”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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