Showing Mercy

Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35

The modern Christian revels in the idea that God has forgiven them of all their sins, that the blood of Jesus has washed them all away.  Leaving aside the fact that such is true for every human being, the idea throughout the Gospel is that if God has shown mercy to us in forgiving us of our sins that we must show mercy to other people.  In short, the mercy of God is not so much a gift to us as much as it is an obligation on our part to be merciful to others.

How are we doing in showing mercy to others? The modern Christian is the apologist of every act of war and violence on other nations, defenders of unjust death penalty and incarceration systems, advocates for cruel and barbaric mass deportation policies and violence against immigrants, migrants, and refugees whom they created with the above unjust wars.  Moreover, any suggestion of forgiveness of medical and student debt is derided by the modern Christian.  

This parable suggests that the mercy shown to all may be withdrawn if we ourselves do not show mercy to other people.  This idea should give us pause and lead us to reconsider our actions and attitudes above.  In Lent we fast not for ascetic purposes but to identify with the poor of the world, to see the world through their experience so that we might show mercy and generosity to them as we are charged to do by the teaching and example of the Lord Jesus. 

Chosen People

Gospel: Luke 4: 24-30

Human beings have an ego problem, individual and collective.  In the category of the latter, we imagine ourselves a privileged species in the whole of the universe, singularly made by God, singularly sentient - the only one in the cosmos.  Not content with that, we then imagine that a particular race or religion is the chosen people of God, the one true community of God's elect where salvation alone exists, whom God loves exclusively.  These ideas have done untold harm to humanity and the earth.

However, in today's Gospel Jesus goes to the synagogue in his home town to refute this idea.  He reminds them that God's gifts of mercy have extended to people outside the privileged race and religion of Israel.  He calls to mind the fact that all people are made in God's image and likeness, and thus all are loved by God.  God's mercy and love are not just for one people but for all.  That we find this message offensive reflects how far we are from the teaching and example of Jesus.

We all want to feel special and privileged, and in so doing we often demean and harm others in the process.  Not content with being loved by God as all people are, we create tiers of heaven and castes on earth that only seek to exclude others and giving us justification to harm other people.  In reminding people that everyone is loved of God and that all have received mercy, we face the same violence against ourselves as Jesus did.  That is the Lenten journey.

The Encounter

Gospel: John 4: 5-42

Jesus enters a Samaritan town and asks a woman for a cup of water.  The woman is shocked, for he is Jewish and what he asks for is forbidden and unclean.  She is a Samaritan, a bitter enemy and foreigner to the Jewish people.  Moreover, she is a public sinner.  The woman is at the well at noon because of this fact, and we discover in the conversation that she has had five husbands and now lives with a sixth man.  This entire scenario is utterly unbelievable to her.

And yet Jesus engages in conversation with her.  He does not condemn or castigate her.  He simply has a conversation.  Jesus has no set script, no agenda.  He simply talks to her, and in the course of the conversation she comes to a dramatic transformation.  Her understanding of Jesus grows - beginning first with a racial slur, then moving to "sir", then "prophet", then "Messiah".  By the end of two days both she and the entire town will declare Jesus to be "savior of the world."  All from a simple conversation.

What transformations could we effect in the world if we simply had conversations with other people, authentic encounters with no script, no agenda.  What realizations could be had in such engagements.  This is the way of Jesus, and this must be our way in our interactions with other people.  But how few of us wish to do this.  How many people are on our no-fly list - people we would not break bread with or talk with, even in our own families!  This Lent, let us imitate the Lord Jesus in this story.