Diocese of Toledo, Ohio

Browsing From the Pastor

February 12th/13th Bulletin Article

Dear Friends,

            Since I am away for a little bit of time to rest, relax, and refresh, it is good to have Fr. Nick Weibl celebrating the weekend Masses for me. He is incredibly kind and generous to do so, and I know many of you are happy to see him—plus he gives you a break from me!

            We move now to the next Beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” I’ve mentioned Fr. Servais Pinckaers, O.P. before, and again, I will reference some of his thought. Fr. Pinckaers notes an observation of St. Thomas Aquinas, that it is appropriate that the beatitude about mercy comes immediately after the beatitude dealing with justice and righteousness. We probably do not think this way, but mercy and justice are two sides of the same coin. Justice without mercy is cruel, but mercy without justice is the mother of moral dissolution. Psalm 85:11 sings it well: “Mercy and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.” In a time when we often oppose truth and justice against mercy and love, our Lord Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes, along with the Holy Spirit speaking through the Psalms, remind us that mercy and justice, love and truth go hand in hand.

            This perhaps raises the question: what exactly is mercy? It is difficult to give it a precise definition, but I like looking at the etymology (study of the origin of a word) of mercy to understand it. Mercy comes from the Latin word misericordia, which is the combination of two more Latin words: miseria (misery) and cor (heart). From this, we can understand mercy (misericordia) to be the movement of the heart (cor) that is shaken at the sight of another’s plight and misery (miseria) and moves to do something, going out of it self and toward the other. That misery could be physical or spiritual. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, formerly a scholar and spiritual writer and now a Cistercian monk, wrote that mercy is the spontaneous, creative movement of life-bestowing love that bends down wherever it detects misery. Mercy is the active love of God that wants to fill every void and darkness in the human heart with life and joy.

            This is a paradox about this beatitude: we must first give what we most need; our reception of mercy is dependent on giving mercy. Next week, we will hear from St. Luke’s Gospel, in which our Lord Jesus says, “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. From the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” The measure of mercy we give is the measure of mercy will receive. Similarly, think about praying the Our Father: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We rarely think about that small word “as,” but it is important. We’re asking God our Father to forgive us in the same manner we forgive (or don’t forgive) others.

            Mercy is powerful, exercised particularly in forgiveness. How often we want to be forgiven, we want to be shown mercy, and yet, we refuse to forgive others or show mercy to others. This beatitude reminds us that those who forgive and are merciful are the ones who will be forgiven and shown mercy, and those who refuse to forgive and refuse to show mercy will be stuck in a feedback loop of unforgiveness and resentment. It is not that God holds back his mercy from us or wants to withhold forgiveness from us. Mercy is one of the faces of charity (love) and reveals to us the nature of God, who is charity (love). God does not withhold mercy from us, but it is our refusal to give mercy which impedes our ability to receive mercy. Those who have, show, and give mercy—no matter when, where, or to whom—will receive mercy in a return, and they will receive mercy without end.

            We are saints under construction, showing mercy to those in misery and to those who have wronged us. Have a great week!

 

In Christ,

Fr. Matt

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