“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 6:36

Luke 6:36-38

Reflection

Jesus tells his disciples to be merciful just like their heavenly Father. They must stop judging in order not to be judged, and stop condemning, for then they will not be condemned.

Are we merciful towards others, just as God is towards us? God has immense mercy on us, considering our great sinfulness and constant turning away from him. When we approach God for mercy with a contrite heart and repentance, he gladly gives it. Yet we might not always do the same to those who ask us for mercy.

Perhaps someone has wronged you and won’t apologize. Perhaps you feel that mercy should not be given in a particular circumstance. Yet in those moments, we should recall what Jesus instructs us to do – be merciful, just like our heavenly Father. In being merciful, we grow in virtue and holiness, continuing down a path to heaven.

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Saint of the Day

St. Agnes of Bohemia: 1205 – 1282

“Though you, more than others, could have enjoyed the magnificence and honor and dignity of the world, and could have been married to the illustrious Caesar with splendor befitting you and his excellency, you have rejected all things and have chosen with your whole heart and soul a life of holy poverty and destitution. Thus you took a spouse of a more noble lineage.” St. Clare to St. Agnes of Bohemia