Where do I find/give mercy in my life?
Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them
~ Matthew 5:7
“The Fifth Beatitude presents “the principle of likeness,” which is a rather constant theme in Jesus: The coherence between what you have consciously received and what you can pass on. We are divine conduits that must be open at both ends. Mercy is another form of forgiveness. Both mercy and forgiveness are unearned, undeserved, not owed or merited in any way. If it isn’t all of those somehow, it won’t be experienced as grace, nor will it fundamentally transform us or the other party. Truly experienced mercy radically transforms us into the same. We become what we have fully received, and even how we have received it.
Mercy and forgiveness are the whole gospel in succinct form. I am told that two thirds of Jesus’ teaching is directly or indirectly about one or the other. If you don’t get mercy, you are not inside of the Mystery of God.”
Adapted from Jesus’ Plan for the New World, p.136
Produced by Center for action and contemplation