A glimpse of mercy

Sometimes I find myself being somewhat self-righteous - being critical of someone who rubs me the wrong way.  Often I find myself being critical of myself, my imperfections, my failures, my sin.  What’s the answer?  God’s Divine mercy!  Mercy is the message throughout all the readings today.  (See  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110313.cfm

Just what is mercy?  I often have a hard time getting hold of the real meaning of mercy.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it is a fruit of the theological virtue of Charity.  As I looked further I found words that help to define God’s mercy – goodness, kindness, compassion, fidelity, forgiveness, patience, grace, love.  In last week’s Gospel Jesus tells the story of the Publican standing in the back of the synagogue beating his breast, saying, “Have mercy on me, a sinner."

In Today’s Gospel Jesus reaches out to Zaccheus, the tax collector who the Jews considered a serious sinner.  Jesus knew his name and called out to him to come down from the tree and welcome Jesus into his home.  This is an overwhelming example of the Lord’s mercy – his kindness, his compassion, his forgiveness, his patience, and his grace which caused Zaccheus to repent, right on the spot!

Jesus revealed Himself to St. Faustina as Divine Mercy 

“O Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner” is often my prayer.  And if I expect the Lord to be merciful to me I must be merciful to others.   What does mercy look like?  We can see it by raising our eyes to the Cross.