Luke 6: 36-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Showing Mercy
We ask God to have mercy on us each time we go to Mass and pray the Kyrie, Confiteor, and the Lamb of God. We ask daily as we reflect upon the times we have welcomed God’s presence into our day, and the times we have turned away to follow our own inclinations. I don’t usually have a problem asking God for mercy and saying, “I’m sorry,” or “I was wrong”, or “I should have…”
But that’s not all Jesus is saying. “Be merciful.” The million-dollar question, right here and now, is “How do we show mercy?” “How do we refrain from judging?” “How do we forgive… and give?” As this Lenten season continues, we recall the first week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, we look at our sins and ask for God’s mercy. Then we are to ask ourselves the questions above, summed up as: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ?
—Donna K. Becher, M.S., is an associate spiritual director at the West Virginia Institute for Spirituality in Charleston, West Virginia. Her training is rooted in the Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Prayer
Merciful God and Father of us all,
wake us from the slumber of indifference,
open our eyes to their sufferings,
and free us from the insensitivity born of worldly comfort
and self-centeredness….
Amen.
—Pope Francis’s Prayer for Those Who Have Died After Leaving Their Homelands in Search of a Better Life 2016
Pray with the Pope
The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions Brought to you by Apostleship of Prayer the first Friday of each month.