Daily Reflections ...

It is not easy to show others real mercy without having experienced mercy ourselves. Without the experience of mercy, our attempts to be merciful can become confused with other things we instinctively do—putting up with others, acting kindly but keeping our honest thoughts to ourselves, and being nice to people even though we cannot stand them. The list goes on. None of these is mercy.

The person who has confronted their weakness and inadequacy calls out to God from their heart. The person who receives God’s mercy knows how to show it to others. There are no shortcuts. The season of Lent calls us to confront the reality of our need so that we can truly reach out to the One who is merciful and, from there, learn to be genuinely merciful to others.

Jesus Christ is the mercy of God incarnate. In Jesus, we see the greatest act of mercy and generosity the world has ever known: the Almighty and Eternal God becomes a human being so that we can encounter God in a comprehensible form. God not only becomes one of us but he takes on the human experience of powerlessness and suffering. In so doing, it reveals that in him, powerlessness and suffering are not the last word. This is mercy in action.

As we contemplate this, we learn that we, too, are to be the mercy of God in the world. Not only must we show mercy because we are the recipients of mercy, but we must show mercy because that is who Jesus Christ is. We are to reveal the presence of Jesus Christ in the world.

by Shane Dwyer