Luke 6:36-38

Daniel 9:4b-10

Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13

Luke 6:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure

will in return be measured out to you.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, when you revealed yourself to us, you revealed yourself as Merciful Love. I am not worthy of the gift of your mercy. It truly is a gift. Help me to welcome it and experience it.

Encountering the Word of God

1. May God Deal with Us according to His Mercy: The passage from the prophet Daniel is a heartfelt prayer on behalf of the Judean exiles in Babylon. Daniel’s prayer is a public confession of sin and an acknowledgment that the people have rebelled against God. Before making this confession, Daniel first acknowledges God’s faithful and merciful love. He knows that, despite Israel’s constant unfaithfulness, God has been and will be faithful to the past covenants he made with Abraham, Moses, and David. Daniel recognizes in his prayer that God is righteous and just and gives to each person their due. He asserts that the Lord God is also compassionate toward those who suffer and forgives those who turn to him with a sincere heart. The Psalmist today pleads that God not deal with us according to our sins, but according to his mercy. By breaking the covenant we brought upon ourselves the curses of the covenant. By our sin we merited death. God, however, did not create us for eternal death. He created us to share in his eternal life and glory. The Psalmist knows this and asks God for help: “Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name.” Here we find the humble recognition that we need to be purified from sin so that we can share in the heavenly glory of knowing and loving God.

2. Be Merciful Just as Your Father is Merciful: If the path of sin is one of rebellion against God and disregard for the law that he has given us, then the path to life is one of obedience to God and his Law. Through Jesus, the Old Law has been purified and brought to fulfillment in the New Law we find in the Gospels. In Saturday’s Gospel from Matthew, we encountered the exhortation to divine holiness and perfection: “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In today’s Gospel from Luke, the exhortation is to divine mercy: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Perfection and mercy go together: God is perfect in himself and is merciful toward the imperfect. God is good and created us. God is just and endowed us with our natural abilities. God is generous and called us to share in his divine life. God is merciful and purifies us when we repent from sin and restores us to divine sonship and life. 

3. Sharing in Divine Mercy: Imitating God's mercy means dealing with our brothers and sisters in such a way that we ultimately reserve judgment to God. We often hear the words of Jesus: “Judge not and you will not be judged;” “Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.” The one who truly imitates divine mercy must forgive and be generous in forgiving. We know that if we turn to God, he will purify us in mercy and bestow on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts enable us to discern God’s will more clearly and act in accord with God’s knowledge and love. They enable us especially to be merciful with our brothers and sisters.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are Mercy Incarnate. Your entire life speaks of God’s merciful love. Even as you were dying on the Cross you begged the Father to forgive those who crucified you and hurled insult upon you. I have no reason not to be merciful toward all.

Resolution: Am I withholding mercy or forgiveness toward someone? Do I realize that I will be shown mercy by God if I am merciful toward my brothers and sisters?