Feb. 10, 2015 Tuesday: Week 1, Divine Mercy Novena
Feb. 10, 2015 Tuesday: Week 1, Divine Mercy Novena - You Did it To Me
When you are sick, are you a good patient or a cranky, demanding patient? This winter, many of us had to endure through particularly bad cases of cold and flu. Even after taking flu vaccines, many of us missed school, work, and stayed home feeling miserable. Perhaps while home feeling miserable, you were fortunate to have a family member or friend come to ease the suffering. Those who came to our aid risked getting infected; but they took mercy on us. Used in this sense, mercy is showing compassion or forbearance upon someone in distress. To be merciful is taking on the pain of the sufferer, but with the hope that some positive good will emerge from this shared suffering. Put in another way, mercy is love that feels compassion for those who suffer (heart) and reaches out to help (action).
There are times when it seems effortless to be merciful, because the person we're helping is lovable and shows gratitude. However, there are times when we are less inclined to be merciful. Perhaps we encounter a stranger, or a person with whom we had a prior disagreement where it wasn’t so pleasant. It takes much patience and kindness to deal with a difficult person or situation without becoming angry. So, it costs to be merciful; in other words, it is a sacrifice. To put this in perspective, think about the times when we were difficult or unlovable and God was merciful to us.
Jesus said in Matthew 25 that when we are merciful to those who may be strangers to us or those who are are not so lovable, we are actually being merciful to Jesus himself. He comes to us as the hungry one, the homeless one, the grieving one, and the incarcerated one. Jesus will say to us, “You did it to me.” What an amazing revelation! We can console Jesus. We can put our compassion for Jesus in action. As you begin to ponder what to do for your Lenten practice, can you think of ways that you can be merciful to others in your everyday encounters? Perhaps our greatest challenge is recognizing that Christ is present in every person we meet.
Fr. Paul Yi
When you are sick, are you a good patient or a cranky, demanding patient? This winter, many of us had to endure through particularly bad cases of cold and flu. Even after taking flu vaccines, many of us missed school, work, and stayed home feeling miserable. Perhaps while home feeling miserable, you were fortunate to have a family member or friend come to ease the suffering. Those who came to our aid risked getting infected; but they took mercy on us. Used in this sense, mercy is showing compassion or forbearance upon someone in distress. To be merciful is taking on the pain of the sufferer, but with the hope that some positive good will emerge from this shared suffering. Put in another way, mercy is love that feels compassion for those who suffer (heart) and reaches out to help (action).
There are times when it seems effortless to be merciful, because the person we're helping is lovable and shows gratitude. However, there are times when we are less inclined to be merciful. Perhaps we encounter a stranger, or a person with whom we had a prior disagreement where it wasn’t so pleasant. It takes much patience and kindness to deal with a difficult person or situation without becoming angry. So, it costs to be merciful; in other words, it is a sacrifice. To put this in perspective, think about the times when we were difficult or unlovable and God was merciful to us.
Jesus said in Matthew 25 that when we are merciful to those who may be strangers to us or those who are are not so lovable, we are actually being merciful to Jesus himself. He comes to us as the hungry one, the homeless one, the grieving one, and the incarcerated one. Jesus will say to us, “You did it to me.” What an amazing revelation! We can console Jesus. We can put our compassion for Jesus in action. As you begin to ponder what to do for your Lenten practice, can you think of ways that you can be merciful to others in your everyday encounters? Perhaps our greatest challenge is recognizing that Christ is present in every person we meet.
Fr. Paul Yi
