First Reading: Daniel 9:4b-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 79
Gospel: Luke 6:36-38
Jesus said to His disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36)
Do you ever find yourself taking one look at someone and thinking that you know everything about person? Perhaps it is the guy hold the 'will work for food' sign on the side of the road. Perhaps it is the irate customer that just chewed you out and is now going straight to your boss. Perhaps it is the scantly clad woman walking down the street. When we see people who are different than ourselves or who have different values, our minds shift into doing something that we are all too good at ... judging. It is amazing how after one look we think that we can tell everything about a person and we can also tell exactly how they are wrong. When we do this, we look at these people and judge through a worldly perspective, instead of through God's.
Jesus warns us of this type of behavior in the gospel today. We are told to be merciful as the Father is to us. We are told not to judge or condemn, and to forgive. Because if we do these things, then we too will not be judged or condemned, and we will be forgiven. It is interesting how we go through our lives forgetting how good God has been to us. We tend to forget His mercy on us and all of His love for each one of us. If we did a better job of remembering how merciful God has been to us, then we would not be so quick to judge or condemn, we would be quick to have the same type of mercy on others as God has for us.
Let us all pray for a heart full of the love and mercy of God. May our eyes be opened, so that we do not see each other as the world does, but see each other through eyes of mercy.
Father above, we thank you for this day. Lord, help us to have mercy on all those we meet and see. Lord, you are a great God of love and mercy, and we thank you for always showing us this love and mercy throughout our lives. Lord, we praise you for all of the blessings that you have given us and for the talents that you have given us. Lord, we praise you for you are a great and amazing God. Help us to stay strong on this journey towards you and help us to finish this race strong. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.
"...and forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us..."
ReplyDeleteHow many times have we prayed the Our Father and not really understood this line of the prayer? We are asking God to forgive us AS we forgive others: Do we hold grudges? Then we are asking God to hold grudges. Do we get angry and act out in spite? Then we are asking God to do the same. Yes, Jimmy, we should all seek to fill our hearts love and mercy. We should always remember that God wills us to be a loving, merciful, patient and kind people. Thank you again for a wonderful post.