MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE, IS IMPORTANT

 

When Jesus challenges us to be compassionate as His heavenly Father is compassionate, it is the same challenge He posed to the Pharisees when He told them to seek mercy and not sacrifice. What does He mean by this? Let me suggest a possible explanation. I think Jesus is referring to the nature of our being a community. To make personal sacrifices and lead an ascetical life is all very good but it only affects the individual. To lead a merciful life requires that we be in relationship with others and that our sacrifices (having mercy) will necessarily impinge upon these relationships for the better.

Jesus is not really interested in a whole lot of holy individuals living separate lives. He wants the faith community to be a living and vibrant community that is interacting with one another all the time. He wants us to be in relationship with others; this will necessarily require us to grow in mercy as when we get into relationships with others it is possible that they will hurt us and we will hurt them. Healing these hurts will require mercy. Jesus tells the Pharisees to shift the focus from judging the rights and wrongs of people to fixing the broken relationships within the community. Jesus is an expert on community because He comes from the undivided Trinity where three persons share everything fully in a perfect way.

Jesus gives a perfect example of this when He calls a tax collector to be one of His disciples. Tax collectors are the scum of the earth as far as the faithful Jew is concerned because not only do they take money from a person; they are collaborating with the Roman occupier to do it! Rarely were they content with just the right amount of tax, too; they often took a bit for themselves on the side. Jesus does not allow this problem to stop Him from associating with tax collectors. How else can they be drawn back into the faith community unless someone seeks to develop a relationship with them to the point that he or she can speak the truth to them in love and mercy? Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Do I have people in my life to whom I should be merciful but am not? What am I going to do about this?

 

Jesus, help me to grow in my capacity for mercy and to minister it to others.

 

St. Lupicinus, pray for us.