“Đong đấu nào, thì sẽ được trả bằng đấu ấy..”
Đấy chính là cách mà Chúa Giêsu sẽ dành cho chúng ta, với tình yêu vô điều kiện mà Ngài chấp nhận sự chối bỏ và sự phản bội của con người, và chấp nhận cả sự đau khổ và cái chết của Ngài để Ngài có thể sống lại, chiến thắng tất cả mọi tội lỗi và sự chết, và đem lại cho tất cả chúng ta sự cứu rỗi. Ngài đã từ chối chống lại bất cứ điều gì mà kẻ thù của Ngài đã đối xử với Ngài, nhưng Ngài luôn sẵn sàng tha thứ cho họ ngay lúc Ngài còn trên cây thập giá.
Chúa Giêsu muốn chúng ta phải biết ăn năn thống hối những lẫm lỗi mà chúng ta đã xúc phạm đến người khác. Chỉ có ân sủng của Thiên Chúa mới có thể giúp chúng ta hòa giải với kẻ thù hoặc những người đã làm tổn thương chúng ta hay những người đã không đối xử công bằng với chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể tha thứ hết, nhưng không phải lúc nào cũng có thể hoàn toàn quên hết được những sự tổn thương đã gây hại đến chúng ta, nhưng quá trình hoà giải, nếu chúng ta chỉ biết hàng động trong ơn sũng và sự phó thác hoàn toàn trong tình yêu của Chúa Kitô, chúng ta có thể tìm được an bình trong sự tha thứ hoàn toàn. Đó là những gì mà Chúa Kitô đã làm cho chúng ta, đó là tình yêu hy sinh trên thập tự giá của Ngài đã dành cho chúng ta. Ngài muốn thấy chúng ta an vui hoàn toàn trong tâm hồn, và có được sự tự do để cho mọi người thấy được lòng thương xót mà Chúa đã dành cho chúng ta. "Chúng ta đong đấu nào thì cũng sẽ được trả lại bằng đấu ấy…." (Luca 6:38)
Lạy Chúa Giêsu, tình yêu của Chúa đã mang lại sự tự do, tha thứ, và niềm vui cho chúng con. Xin Chúa biến đổi trái tim của chúng con với tình yêu của Chúa để không có gì có thể làm cho chúng con phải mất bình tĩnh, nóng giận, để làm mất đi hòa khí của chúng con, hay lấy đi mất niềm vui của chúng con và làm chúng con phải cay đắng, giận dữ với bất cứ người nào"
And yet, Jesus tells us to be merciful just like the Father; not to judge or condemn; to forgive. By doing so, He promises that we will receive the same treatment that we give others, in full measure and running over. This is exactly how Jesus, innocent and sinless, out of unconditional love for us, embraced his rejection, his Passion and death so that He may rise again, conquering sin and death, and bringing all of us the salvation He wants for everyone. He did not hold anything against his enemies but forgave them from the cross.
To show mercy and to forgive are some of the most difficult things to do. We can't do it alone and it takes time. Jesus wants us to repent for any resentment or hatred we may have against others. He knows how it feels to suffer from life's hurts and He is always with us in our struggles. It is only with God's grace that we'll be able to reconcile with our enemies or people who have hurt us or treated us unfairly and to move on.
Forgiveness doesn't always totally erase the memory of the hurt that was done to us but the process of healing can only start with this conscious act of love and forgiveness. It is what Christ did for us with His loving sacrifice on the cross. He wants to see us whole and at peace, and free enough to show people the same mercy he has shown us. "For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back."
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36
What is mercy? How is the Father in Heaven merciful? Suppose someone lived a life contrary to God’s will. When that person dies and stands before the Judgment Seat of God, will God, in His mercy, say, “That’s okay, you can enter Heaven even though you do not deserve it”? Or in our lives, if someone is living an openly sinful lifestyle that is objectively contrary to God’s moral law, should we say, “If living that way makes you happy, then I’m happy for you”? Neither of these depicts authentic mercy.
After telling us, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” Jesus defines what He means. First, He tells us what not to do: “Stop judging…Stop condemning.” God, and God alone, has the authority to judge and condemn. We do not. Therefore, when we judge and condemn another, we usurp God’s authority. Only God sees the heart; therefore, only God can judge a person.
However, the command to “Stop judging” and “Stop condemning” must be exercised from two perspectives. On the one hand, we ought not to judge a person as a sinner deserving condemnation. On the other hand, we ought not to declare a person morally righteous, especially when someone’s actions contradict God’s revealed law. So what are we to do? We limit our judgment to the objective moral actions that God has revealed, leaving it to God to condemn or exonerate the heart. This will free us from anger and enable us to express authentic love.
For example, if two people live as husband and wife even though they are not married, we should look for an opportunity to express our hope that they enter into marriage rather than continue living together while unmarried. This is not a condemnation of their souls but a proclamation of God’s objective moral law. It’s the Gospel, and we must speak it with kindness, patience, and clarity. Furthermore, if we express to these same individuals that we are somehow happy for them and support their living arrangement, we are also wrongly judging them to be in God’s good graces, which is just as sinful on our part. Hence, not judging and not condemning means we focus on the objective action, not the heart. This can be difficult, especially with those closest to us, but it is essential in practicing true mercy.
What Jesus says next is even more challenging: “Forgive” and “give.” As an added motivation, Jesus explains that we will only be forgiven when we forgive others, and good gifts will be given to us only when we give. Forgiveness and generosity are acts of great mercy. To forgive is to offer pardon to one who has committed some sin against us. Though we never know a person’s heart and, therefore, their culpability for an action, there are plenty of times when an offense is committed against us. In this case, there is only one appropriate response: forgive and give kindness, compassion, and mercy. We must never hold a grudge, remain angry, sulk over an injury, or hold a sin against another. Never.
The challenge is that human reason alone cannot fully comprehend this. We need divine revelation and God’s grace to inform our minds and hearts that this is the right thing to do. By drawing closer to Christ in prayer and the sacraments, we can grow in this supernatural mercy, allowing His grace to transform our hearts.
Reflect today on this true meaning of mercy. Beg for God’s mercy in your life in superabundance. As you do, choose to offer mercy to others to the same extent that you ask for God’s mercy. Give generously, exceeding what your human reason alone comprehends, and God will pour His mercy upon you in the same incomprehensible way.
My merciful Lord, there are many times when I judge another, hold a grudge, and am stingy with mercy. Please give me Your Heart so that I can overcome my failures and give of myself with supernatural virtue. I want to be like You, my God. Help me show mercy in superabundance. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, when you revealed yourself to us, you revealed yourself as Merciful Love. I am not worthy of the gift of your mercy. Help me to welcome it and experience it to the full.
1. Be Merciful: In the Old Testament, God commanded Israel: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Here, Jesus reformulates the teaching and replaces the Levitical command to imitate God’s holiness (Hebrew: kadosh) with a command to imitate his mercy (Hebrew: hesed). To be holy was “to be set apart.” This meant that Israel was called to be set apart from the other nations to serve and worship the Lord as a holy people. The subtle difference between the divine attributes of holy and merciful points to a difference between the Old Covenant and the New: “The quest for holiness in ancient Israel meant that God’s people had to separate themselves from everything ungodly, unclean, and impure, including Gentiles and sinners (Leviticus 15:31; 20:26). Jesus gives holiness a new focus, defining it as mercy that reaches out to others and no longer divides people into segregated camps or disqualifies some and not others to enter the family of God” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1843). We are still called to separate ourselves from sin and to be a holy people, and we have a mission of mercy toward our brothers and sisters.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:36–37
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in his guide for a thirty-day retreat, has the retreatant spend the first week of the retreat focusing upon sin, judgment, death and hell. At first, this can seem very uninspiring. But the wisdom of this approach is that after a week of these meditations, retreatants come to a deep realization of just how much they need the mercy and forgiveness of God. They see their need more clearly, and a deep humility is fostered within their soul as they see their guilt and turn to God for His mercy.
But mercy goes both ways. It is part of the very essence of mercy that it can only be received if it is also given. In the Gospel passage above, Jesus gives us a very clear command about judgment, condemnation, mercy and forgiveness. Essentially, if we want mercy and forgiveness, then we must offer mercy and forgiveness. If we are judgmental and condemning, then we will also be judged and condemned. These words are very clear.
Perhaps one of the reasons that many people struggle with being judgmental and condemning of others is because they lack a true awareness of their own sin and their own need for forgiveness. We live in a world that often rationalizes sin and downplays the seriousness of it. That’s why the teaching of Saint Ignatius is so important for us today. We need to rekindle a sense of the seriousness of our sin. This is not done simply to create guilt and shame. It’s done to foster a desire for mercy and forgiveness.
If you can grow in a deeper awareness of your own sin before God, one of the effects will be that it is then easier to be less judgmental and condemning of others. A person who sees his sin is more apt to be merciful to other sinners. But a person who struggles with self-righteousness will most certainly also struggle with being judgmental and condemning.
Reflect, today, upon your own sin. Spend time trying to understand how ugly sin is and try to grow in a healthy disdain for it. As you do, and as you beg our Lord for His mercy, pray also that you will be able to offer that same mercy you receive from God to others. As mercy flows from Heaven to your own soul, it must then also be shared. Share the mercy of God with those all around you and you will discover the true value and power of this Gospel teaching of our Lord.
My most merciful Jesus, I thank You for Your infinite mercy. Help me to see clearly my sin so that I, in turn, may see my need for Your mercy. As I do, dear Lord, I pray that my heart will be open to that mercy so that I can both receive it and share it with others. Make me a true instrument of Your divine grace. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Be Merciful: In the Old Testament, God commanded Israel: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Here, Jesus reformulates the teaching of Leviticus and replaces the command to imitate God’s holiness (Hebrew: kadosh), with a command to imitate his mercy (Hebrew: hesed). To be holy was “to be set apart.” This meant that Israel was called to be set apart from the other nations to serve and worship the Lord as a holy people. The subtle difference between the divine attributes of holy and merciful “points to a difference between the Old Covenant and the New. The quest for holiness in ancient Israel meant that God’s people had to separate themselves from everything ungodly, unclean, and impure, including Gentiles and sinners (Leviticus 15:31; 20:26). Jesus gives holiness a new focus, defining it as mercy that reaches out to others and no longer divides people into segregated camps or disqualifies some and not others to enter the family of God” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1843).
Monday 2nd Week of Lent
Opening Prayer: Lord, help me to listen and understand your words so that I may be more and more the disciple that you intended me to be when you made me.
1. The Father’s Mercy: The Father is infinitely merciful. He is ready to forgive anyone who asks for pardon, no matter how big the sin is. He forgave the disobedience of Adam and Eve—the greatest sin in history. He would have forgiven Judas if he had asked for forgiveness. Even if our desire for forgiveness is not perfect–even if our motivation is only to avoid going to hell rather than sorrow for having hurt others or offended God–the Father is willing to forgive. The Father’s mercy is to be the measure of his disciples’ mercy.
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