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This parable suggests that the mercy shown to all may be withdrawn if we ourselves do not show mercy to other people.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.