Mercy succeeds where love fails

Good News Reflection
Monday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time
June 14, 2010
Today's Readings:
1 Kings 21:1-16
Ps 5:2-7
Matt 5:38-42
http://www.usccb.org/nab/061410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_06_14.mp3
Mercy succeeds where love fails
The Sermon on the Mount is probably the most unpleasant part of the Gospel to hear. If we're truly interested in living a truly Christian life, growing stronger in holiness, then we find chapters five, six and seven of Matthew to be extremely challenging. Jesus gets down to the nitty-gritty details of holy living, and nearly every verse challenges us to examine how much we really do want to learn from him.

Today's Gospel reading is a good example of this. We don't really want to turn the other cheek when someone hurts us. We don't want to lose the court battle when we're sued, let alone give away more than what's been demanded from us. We don't want to give our money to those who didn't earn it. We don't want to increase our donation to the Church, because we might need that extra money to buy more clothes or a newer car, a bigger house, or a fantasy vacation. And how quickly we reduce the amount when the pastor or bishop or someone else in the Church does something wrong!
The extreme generosity that's necessary for holiness becomes easier when we understand why Jesus wants us to be holy. The reason is MERCY. Think of love as the front door to people's hearts. When they close it, mercy is the love that sneaks in through the back door. Mercy succeeds where love fails.
When Jesus preached this Sermon, he raised us above the Old Testament's "eye for an eye" spirituality, which is so easily warped into revenge-seeking. Basically, he said: When others hurt you, be merciful and love them (forgive them, do good to them, pray for them, etc.). This is how we stay united to God, who is Divine Mercy itself. In this unity, he turns our problems into blessings and produces a greater good.
People hurt us without understanding that they're actually hurting themselves. By sinning, they close the door to God's love. But if we love them, we give God to them; he reaches them through us (we become the back door to their hearts). If we refuse to give them mercy, we are refusing to give them God, and we are also closing our own doors to God and to his love.
If someone strikes out at you verbally, don't strike back; give love. If someone tries to steal from you, you can't stop his sin of greed but you can stop him from sinning against you by freely giving to him what he's taking. If an irresponsible coworker demands that you do his work for him, prevent it from being a sin by volunteering to do even more. This is mercy.
Think of a time when you didn't deserve God's love or act of kindness. What did it feel like when you realized that he cared about you anyway? How did it change you? This is what you can do for those who sin against you. Although you might not feel like being that holy, ask the Holy Spirit for supernatural help and he will empower you.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?
Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?
To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections

Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?
Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________
This is the "Good News Reflections - American Edition" mailing list.
MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
Change your address
Unsubscribe