“We can be certain that closeness is the key to mercy, for mercy would not be mercy unless, like a Good Samaritan, it finds ways to shorten distances” – Pope Francis, March 29, 2018. Mercy always finds a way to shorten distances…….between spouses and family members (for charity begins at home), between friends and associates, between strangers. If we ever wondered how to show mercy to others, this is a practical explanation.
Reaching out whether it is convenient or not convenient, just as God is continually scanning our hearts (Ps. 14:2); Reaching out whether it will be appreciated or rejected, just as Jesus continues to be appreciated by some and rejected by others (John 12:48); Reaching out whether we are the right party or wronged party, for it is the Peace Maker that is acknowledged as God’s child (Matt. 5:9); Reaching out to the marginalized and oppressed, for it makes our gloom to to become like midday (Isaiah 58:10); Reaching out to the lost and hopeless, for the Shepherd needs to use us to seek and bring the lost sheep in (Luke 19:10). Wherever we initiate the shortening of the distance between us and another person, we are showing mercy.
The Israelites acknowledged their constant sinfulness and recognized that God’s Mercy was renewed and available to them every morning – Lamentations 3:21. Were God to treat them as they justly deserved, they would have been consumed; but because of the inexhaustible mercies of God, they were not consumed – http://biblehub.com/kjv/lamentations/3-22.htm. That exclusive Divine Mercy became available to all, Jews and gentiles, when the death of Jesus was confirmed by the piercing of His side, pouring out blood and water for all mankind. This is a constantly flowing mercy, unending and inexhaustible, frequently referred to as an Ocean of Mercy. His splendor spreads like the light; rays shine forth from beside him, where his power is concealed – Habakkuk 3:4.
And so through Jesus, Divine Mercy continues to be renewed for us every morning. Because of this mercy, we are not consumed despite our constant sinfulness. It is only the man without sin that will not constantly revere this attribute of God. It is only the man who is sinless that believes that he deserves all that he has been blessed with. Every sinner understands, that were God to examine his daily thoughts, words, and actions and proceed to judge him without mercy, he would be consumed.The Lord within her is just, who does no wrong. Morning after morning He renders judgment unfailingly at dawn – Zeph. 3:5.
Therefore, the very privilege of waking up each morning is the first evidence of renewed Divine Mercy, for some are consumed in the state of sleep and others are called to their heavenly home from that state. Then mercy and grace go on working in us and for us throughout the day. However this Ocean of Mercy cannot be still or stagnant, it is designed as a flowing element, as living waters. When it does not get outlets to flow through, it quickly becomes stale, and stale water accumulated over time becomes dead water. At this point, sadly, one can only presume that God’s Holy Spirit is not able to inhabit that temple.
We are designed to be Vessels of Mercy, to be carriers of the Divine Mercy we receive every morning into the lives of others. We should eagerly look out for and anticipate opportunities to let this mercy flow through us every single day, in our thoughts and by our words and actions. It should become a part of us, as natural as taking the next breath, or eating the next meal. We should be careful not to let a flowing ocean of pure living waters become a cesspool of dead water, contaminated by our sins……for mercy would not be mercy unless, like a Good Samaritan, it finds ways to shorten distances…… When mercy flows through us into those that we reach out to, we please God and are positioned to become useful vessels of honor, always ready for God’s work in the daily circumstances of our lives and always on the look-out for opportunities to glorify and magnify God’s name.
This way of thinking is helpful especially when we do not feel like being kind, loving or merciful or when we do feel like, but lack the courage. We call to mind that God at any given moment is treating us mercifully (and not as our sins deserve, unless we are without sin), and observing us to see if we will let His mercy flow through us or hoard it and then have the nerve to come asking Him for more mercies in prayer. (For when God answers our prayers, it is always an act of mercy. Our petitions to God have no standing on their own, coming from our sinful selves). Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy – Matt. 5:7.
It is a corollary to the concept of forgiveness that Jesus taught us. We are not to waste our breath in asking God to forgive us our sins, if we are not able to forgive others. We might as well just go on reveling in our life of sin when we cannot find it in our hearts to forgive others. And if we are only able to forgive ‘kinda’, we should remember that unfortunately for us, God does not do half-measures; He either forgives or withholds forgiveness based on how we forgive others. As we say in secular terms about Karma, the law of cause and effect, what goes round, comes around. We will daily reap in new and abundant mercies from God’s Ocean of Divine Mercy, what we sow from that mercy as we scatter it around us every single day.
God’s mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14). … Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of His love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish. Pope Francis — Easter message on March 31, 2013
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