“The Lord God is merciful & gracious.” Ex 24:6.
“Mercy and truth will meet, justice and peace will kiss.” Ps 85:11.
“You, Lord, my God, deal kindly with me for your name’s sake in your great mercy rescue me.”Ps 109:21.
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love.” Ps 145:8.
“For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.” Is 49:13.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Mt 5 7.
“It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice.” Mt 9:13.
“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers.” Lk 1:72.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Lk 6:36.
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying ’God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Lk 18 13.
“Father forgive them they know not what they are doing.” Lk 23:34.
“If you do acts of mercy, let it be because you enjoy doing them.” Rom 12:6-8.
“He had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be merciful and faithful High Priest before God.” Heb 2:17.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:16.
“ Whoever acts without mercy will be judged without mercy. ” James 2:13.
“The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners.” CCC1846.
“The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned and burying the dead.” CCC 2447.
“Mary’s Magnificat sings of “mercy from generation to generation.” The Church of our time, constantly pondering the eloquence of these inspired words, and applying them to the sufferings of the great human family, must become more particularly and profoundly conscious of the need to bear witness in her whole mission to God’s mercy, following in the footsteps of the tradition of the Old and the New Covenant, and above all of Jesus Christ Himself and His Apostles. The Church must bear witness to the mercy of God revealed in Christ,” Pope John Paul II, Divine Mercy.
“A merciful love, by its essence, is a creative love. In reciprocal relationships, merciful love is never a unilateral act or process, even in the cases in which everything would seem to indicate that only one party is giving and offering, and the other only receiving and taking (for example, in the case of a physician giving treatment, a teacher teaching, parents supporting and bringing up their children, a benefactor helping the needy). In reality the one who gives is always also a beneficiary. In any case, he too can easily find himself in the position of the one who receives, who obtains a benefit, who experiences merciful love; he too can find himself the object of mercy.” Ibid.
Mercy
Mercy is a quality of God that is reflected and shared in humans. Mercy is love in action- the giving of forgiveness which is based on God’s forgiveness of our faults and sins. The giver of mercy has received mercy and seeks to share that experience with another. The spiritual and corporal works of mercy energize and focus the spiritual gift of being merciful. Mercy becomes a habit when we act merciful to others and ourselves everyday.
Questions to share
- Which passage touches you or burns in your heart the most? Why?
- How have you exercised this gift in the past?
- How are you now exercising this gift in ministry?
- Do you see new ways you can exercise this ministry in the future?