Gospel: Luke 11: 27-28
We human beings have the tendency to look at blessings as connected to things beyond our human control: winning the lottery; being born to certain people in certain times, places, and circumstances; having your team win the Super Bowl. While these may all be fortunate occurrences, they are not anything we have earned or merited. They occur by chance.
Jesus tells us that blessings come solely from one source: hearing God's word and carrying it out in our lives. And that word is accepting God's mercy extended to us and extending that mercy to others in the world. This is entirely within our control and ability to carry out. Regardless of our station or lot in life, every human being has the capacity to receive this blessing and share it with others.
It is surely the case that we do not deserve or in any way merit the mercy of God; it is a pure gift offered freely to all by a generous and loving God. And it may be the case that the people to whom we offer mercy do not deserve it either, but that is exactly the point. If we did not deserve God's mercy and still accept this free gift, how can we deny it to anyone else?
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