Blessed are the Merciful

Day 344 of Photo Inspirations -- Blessed are the Merciful
We’re into the Advent/Christmas Season by a couple of weeks now, and though it's the most wonderful time of the year, we've all probably had an occasion to be unhappy and disgruntled with someone or something.  And, BIG surprise….. someone might even be unhappy with us. But thank goodness for God's mercy. His mercy embodies the great love and forgiveness that He extends to His children. Perhaps you remember a time when one of your children made a huge mistake and they were surprised when you showed them mercy. We love them and we knew they would grow up and do better. Why does God choose to be merciful?  Because He knows us, and He knows we’ll grow up and do better.

I was thrilled to hear Pope Francis declare that yesterday, December 8th as the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and runs all the way until next November.  He said, "We want to live this year in the light of the Lord’s words: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’ Luke 6:36).”    He went on to ask, "Is it naive to believe that this may change the world?" "Yes, humanly speaking it is a folly, but 'the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,'" he responded, quoting from 1 Corinthians.

In this season of good will toward men and this Jubilee Year of Mercy, shouldn't we amp up the MERCY acts toward those around us?  Let’s face it -- someone is going to cut into our line, probably when we are late and holding something heavy.  Someone is going to be in a grumpy mood and snap at us. People might not welcome us onto the highway in front of them. Indeed…..this is a season for . . . mercy.  Since we receive God's mercy for our flaws, shouldn’t we have mercy for others’ flaws. There will be people that just don’t know God and His mercy, so they don't have any of His mercy to give. But we can share the gift of God's mercy over and over again, regardless of how we are treated. And it’s a good idea to pray for those folks that just don’t know how to receive God’s mercy – maybe the mercy we show them will draw them to our God and Father of mercy.

It makes me wonder "If we just amped up mercy and purposefully gave out more mercy in bolder and even more creative ways, things around us just might be different."   We'd see the beggar on the street corner, and instead of thinking "Get a job", we'd, at the very least, say a prayer for him.  We'd be more patient with the cashier.  We'd been more tender-hearted to the "Scrooges" around us.  We'd invite the lonely and family-less to join us for Christmas parties. Who knows?  It may be in our giving mercy, that we will receive even more of the abundance of God's mercy to us.   "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5:7

Don't we want to have the heart to live this holiday season and the year in the light of the Lord’s words: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful". Luke 6:36