Be Merciful as God is merciful

BE MERCIFUL 

Which is best in front of God? To be perfect according to His mind? Or To be merciful like Him? 

Actually, both are same, but are different aspects of His identity. Matthew writes, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), which echoes Leviticus 19:2: "Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." Luke makes a single but remarkable word change, "be merciful, just as your heavenly father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). 

Luke’s Gospel was believed to be written  10 to 15 years after the gospel of Matthew. Maybe it was Luke who wanted to change the way of looking at the holiness of God. How can we understand the word of Jesus as per today's gospel reading according to Luke? 

1. No one can be perfect, but everyone can show mercy. And in showing mercy we approach divine perfection. Luke records the perfection used by Matthew as the mercifulness of God.  

God's perfect life is donated to imperfect people. God's face is nothing but his mercy. When we say perfection, what comes to our minds are hardness, rigidity, and roughness. But the Mercy of God does not include inferiority, fear and negative feelings. Jesus said, “I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world” (Jn 12:47). Jesus did not judge even his own murderers. Instead, He was thinking well of them, excusing them and praying for them: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). As His disciples, we are invited to be like the Master.

2. Throw away the judgemental attitude: There are two strong imperatives used in the sayings of Jesus; Stop judging and stop condemning. When Jesus says: “Do not judge”, Jesus is not prohibiting the exercise of our faculty of discernment, nor are we asked to approve everything that our brother does. What He is forbidding is to attribute an evil intention to the person for acting thus. Let us not spend time judging others for it is not our work. Rather, we are asked to help, discern and correct others who are traveling with us without taking the role of condemning. 

3. The flow of forgiveness: Just if we laugh at them, we think about their ignorance, and we have pity on them. It becomes mercy. Why they are just unable to understand the people? How small are still people? They are not exposed to the environment of love. It is written, "Give and gifts will be given to you": how can we understand. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father gave gfts to both the sons, but what did  he receive from them in return? Yet, the Father receives happiness. Remember there is no happiness in having or receiving, but rather in giving. If you want to remain satisfied, just give whatsoever you can, offer time, and give love in case of negligence. 

Surrendering is important to achieve the happiness, like the father by simply offering. In the first reading, Daniel prays to God, he surrenders to God, he surrenders the people. Daniel is satisfied. Happy. 

ASK, SEEK AND KNOCK (Mt 7:7-12)

Today’s gospel reading narrates many things, but one thing is prevalent, that is "interdependence". Jesus invites us strongly to come out from our self-centered living and to move towards other-centered living and therefore to God-centeredness. 

Most of us think very often that we can make it alone. At times, we understand that it is not possible at all. We are not created alone in this world. Please reflect on these three words; Ask, Seek, and Knock.  We cannot achieve anything if we do these three actions alone.  At times, we feel that asking for something is a humiliating experience,  we become weak and vulnerable if someone is helping us. We become shameful when help is denied if we have asked. We go near the door, yet we sometimes return without knocking because it will disturb other people. 

Not only in prayer but also in our social and commercial interactions we need to ask, seek and knock. Jesus says our Father in heaven is a God of goodness and benevolence. 

We may take as an example the prayer of the Queen Esther before she goes to the king to plead for the people. The implication is that it was not she who brought liberation to help people, but God, God alone. Esther seeks the presence of God to accompany her. In her childlike trust, she knocks, and the doors are opened for her. 

These are the simple messages from today's Gospel: 

• We are dependent as human beings. 
• We are here not to compete but to complement each other. 
• We need to collaborate and cooperate for the common good that brings success not confrontation with others.

GREATER THAN JONAH

Jonah 3:1-10. Lk 11:29-32, 1 March 2023, First Week of Lent

Both the readings of the day are centered on the name ‘Jonah’ which in Hebrew means ‘dove.’ Many Rabbis consider Jonah rather as a part of Midrashic literature than of prophetic literature. For, according to them, the Book of Jonah is presents a metaphor of the people of Israel. The Book of Jonah revolves around three persons: the people of Nineveh, God, and Jonah. At the beginning of the book, the people of Nineveh are sinful, God is angry, and Jonah is reluctant. At the end of the book, all the three undergo conversion: Nineveh repents, God relents, and Jonah retorts.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. Assyrians had captured the people of Israel in the Northern Kingdom in 723-722 BCE. Later the people of Israel developed a strong antipathy towards this enemy nation, and they wanted it to be destroyed. Jonah in fact presents a racist and angry face of such people. But God’s ways are different. Instead of punishing the Assyrians God becomes merciful to them. The people of Israel learn three things from this scenario: (i) It is not anger that heals but mercy; in fact, they begin to be merciful to foreign and enemy nations; (ii) God’s ways are his ways and we can’t question them; and (iii) In the world the evil is not always repaid.

In the gospel reading to his contemporaries, who were seeking a sign, Jesus offers them the signs of Solomon and Jonah. Solomon was considered the wisest person of the Judaic history. Jonah was considered a powerful preacher. As Jesus is the wisdom of God, he becomes greater than Solomon. And as he went about not only preaching, but also healing, he becomes greater than Jonah.

But unlike the queen of Sheba and the people of Nineveh, the contemporaries of Jesus refuse to believe in him. Jesus is greater than Jonah. The implication is that he demands greater conversion.

Thanks : Fr. Yesu K