Let’s always be merciful

ONE of the things that we are encouraged to learn and develop during this Lenten season is how to be merciful always. This we can gather from the gospel of St. Luke where we hear Christ telling his disciples: 

 “Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.” (6,36-38) 

 It’s quite clear that what Christ was telling his disciples, and now us, is to reflect the very love and generosity of God to everyone, irrespective of how they are to us. Yes, we need to sort out all our differences and conflicts as best that we can, but knowing our wounded condition, we can only go so far in that regard. What is important is that no matter where our justice can only reach, we should never fail to show mercy to everyone. 

 Christ himself showed us how to live by this standard when, in spite of all the preaching and miracles he did for the people, he just submitted himself, completely sinless as he was, to death by crucifixion without any complaint if only to save us, to recover us from our alienation from God in whose image and likeness we have been created, and in whose life and nature we are supposed to share. 

 And so, whatever differences and conflicts we may have among ourselves, whatever mistakes and failures we commit, we just have to be merciful in the end. 

 Mercy should be above all other considerations. It certainly goes beyond what our human justice can cover and resolve. Thus, even as we try our best to resolve our differences and conflicts through our legal and judicial system, and our other informal ways of justice, we should be ready and quick to dispense mercy to everyone. 

 Let’s not get detained too long by the mistakes that we all commit. Rather, assured of God’s mercy and liberally dispensing mercy ourselves to one another, let’s look forward to what can be done to help, to heal what is wounded, to restore what was destroyed, to repair what was damaged, to improve what still needs to be improved. 

 Christ was clear about how it is not in him to condemn people. “The Son of man came not to destroy souls, but to save.” (Lk 9,56) We should also have this attitude. And so, we need to expand our mind and heart so as to be magnanimous always with those with whom we have some problems. 

 We have to be wary when we get too concerned about justice without as much being concerned about mercy. We would be treading on dangerous ground that way. Instead of attaining justice, we most likely would be generating more injustice. 

 In fact, we should be more concerned with mercy than with justice, given the obvious limitations of our human justice. It’s not that we should ignore justice altogether. We have need at least to air out our differences and enter into some discussion. But everything has to be marked by delicacy and refinement. 

 And no matter how far our justice can only take us, we should be in the end always merciful. This is how God treats us. This should also how we should treat one another.

We are meant for a sublime and supernatural life

THAT wonderful event of the Transfiguration of the Lord (cfr. Mt 17,1-9) should make us understand that like Christ we too are meant to be transfigured into the supernatural life with God. That is what God wants for us. Toward that end, God has given us everything, Christ himself, so we can be what he wants us to be. 

 We therefore should try our best to develop a sense of the sublime and the supernatural while still immersed here in the things of this world. We are meant for a supernatural life. Our human nature, with our spiritual soul that enables us to know and to love, and therefore to enter into the lives not only of others but also and most importantly, of God, urges us to develop a supernatural life. 

 Our life is a life with God always. It just cannot be exclusively our own life, taken personally or collectively. It’s a life that depends mainly on God who gives us the grace that purifies and elevates our life to his life. But it also depends on us, on our freedom to correspond to this loving will of God for us. 

 We have to develop a taste and even an appetite for the supernatural life with God and of things supernatural in general. In this we have to help one another, because in the end, this is our common ultimate end in life—how to live our life with God, how we can be immersed in God even as we are immersed also in the things of the world. 

 To be sure, developing the sense of the supernatural and the sublime is not a baseless and gratuitous exercise. It is what God wants us to have, since we truly are children of his. It is not our invention. It is, first of all, his will for us to which we have to correspond. 

 We should not feel uneasy about this truth, because on the part of God, he will do everything to make what he wants of us to be fully realized. All we have to do is simply to go along with his will and ways as far as we can. 

 This sense of the supernatural and the sublime will do us a lot of good. Even psychologically speaking, it is a tremendous help. Imagine the calm, serenity and confidence it can give us! Imagine the joy it provides us even as we go through the drama of our earthly life that is often described as a vale of tears. 

 But the good that it gives us far exceeds what it does to our psychological self. It is what shapes us into God’s children, sharers of his life and nature. It is a clear mark that our faith, hope and charity are strong and working. In short, that our spiritual life is healthy despite, and also because of, all the trials and challenges we will be facing in this life. 

 We should develop this sense of the supernatural and the sublime by often reminding ourselves of who we really are. That way, we would somehow be in a state of awe and amazement. We would somehow feel reassured that despite our limitations, weaknesses, failures and even sins, there is always hope to attain our original and ultimate dignity because God will always be on our side. We just have to put ourselves in his side too. 

 Perhaps as a concrete way of developing and keeping this sense of the sublime and the supernatural, we should cultivate the practice of thinking that we are entering heaven to be with God when we end the day and have our rest.

A new heart, a new spirit

THAT is what we are encouraged to pursue and to achieve, especially during this Lenten season. It only means that we should try our best, after due repentance, conversion and purification, that we acquire the very heart and spirit of God which is filled with none other than love. 

 It’s a love that Christ once described with these words: “Unless your justice abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5,20) He went further than that when he said we should love our enemies. (cfr. Mt 5,44) 

 To have a new heart and a new spirit that reflects the very heart and spirit of God definitely involves some transformation and spiritual growth in us. It can mean that we become more compassionate with everyone, reflecting Christ’s teachings and example. It can also mean letting go of our old ways that do not align with God’s will and ways. 

 To be sure, it will always involve the acquisition of the willingness to forgive and to be kind with everyone, irrespective of how they are to us. For this, there is no other way but for us to truly seek a closer relationship with God. 

 Let’s remember that one objective of Lent is to prepare us for our new creation in Christ. Yes, we need to be made new, that is, to emerge from our state of sinfulness and weakness, so as to become “alter Christus,” another Christ, if not “ipse Christus,” Christ himself. 

 Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity who became man to be the way, truth and life to us, is the very pattern and substance of our humanity. Remember that we have been made in the image and likeness of God, and adopted children of his. 

 To have a new heart and new spirit, and to be a new creation is the ideal we should strive to pursue. It requires both God’s action, which is always done, and our correspondence, which depends on how we use our freedom. 

 Thus, we hear God saying, “My son, give me your heart.” (Prov 23,26) It’s moving to hear God begging of us to give what is most precious to us, our heart. He does this because he does not impose himself on us. He respects our freedom, which is actually his gift to us, making us precisely his image and likeness. 

 And on our part, we should not be afraid to give it, knowing that what seems a loss to us by giving our heart to God would actually be a tremendous gain. Christ spoke much about this self-giving that actually enriches us rather than impoverishing us. 

 So, our attitude should sound like what is expressed in Psalm 50. “Create in me a new heart, O Lord.” If we really know who we are or how we stand before God who is everything to us, I suppose we cannot ask him in a tone other than this. We also need to beg him, to importune him, even if we know that as a good Father, he always gives. 

 This is simply the language of love into which we have to enter if we want to develop a relationship with God. What all this leads to is that we need to take care of our heart. We need to protect it and keep it always new with the newness that can only come from Christ, our savior and perfecter.