' Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew, 5:7). The first 4 beatitudes naturally lead to the fifth one of being merciful to the disadvantaged, weak and marginalized people. For, we are exactly in the same situation before God by being poor in spirit, mourning, by being meek and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We who receive gracious and merciful bounty from the King are required, in our turn, to be gracious and merciful to our less privileged brethren. This is exactly what Jesus taught through the parable of the unforgiving and unmerciful servant who was liberally forgiven and set free from his debts owed by him to his master (Matthew, 18: 21-35).
The merciful are blessed because they forget about their own rights and needs and show kindness to others and heal their wounds. This is done not because they naturally like it, but because they are conscious of the fact that they themselves are forgiven and shown mercy by the Lord. Because they are merciful to others now, they will be shown mercy not only now but also in the future life to come.
Acts of mercy can arise only from a loving heart. It is an overflow of love that is usually hidden and finds an opportunity to express itself in acts of mercy. When it proceeds from love, our attitude to the beneficiary of our merciful act would be one of respect and humility. A condescending and superiority-complex driven act of mercy deprives the benefactor of all merit and reward due to the wrong motives of the action performed. It also humiliates and demoralizes the beneficiary of the act of mercy who has a right to the dignity of his or her person. Empowering others by our acts of mercy pertains to its substance over and above any material or physical assistance rendered. Empowering a person belongs to the sphere of the Spirit and is essential for the spiritual life of both the benefactor and the beneficiary.
The motive for showing mercy to others is that we have been shown mercy by God in so many ways and in several instances. If God were to extract retribution for our acts, we would not have been alive today and alive in the way we seem to thrive in the world! Since God needs nothing from us, what we can do to show devotion to God is to show mercy and assist the unfortunate ones in place of God. This very attitude is highly recommended by Jesus by proclaiming that whatever has been done for these little ones has been actually done for him (Matthew, 25:40). We have an important duty to God to show our gratitude for all the good things he has bestowed on us. This obligation is eminently fulfilled by showing mercy to the underprivileged and the weak for the sake of our love of God. Our intention and motives should be highly pure in helping others since we deal with God when we deal with our neighbor.
Besides material assistance to the needy, we can show mercy in innumerable ways that are directly connected to our spirit. Willingness to forgive others when they offend us in any manner is but a corollary to our general attitude of tolerance of others when their behavior in general is not palatable to us. Very often, the dislike we feel for others is due to difference of temperament, cultural background, education, view of life, personal circumstances etc. For the same reasons, others may not like our behavior and attitudes. Tolerance, understanding, dialogue, mutual respect and trying to learn more about others to appreciate their ways of acting etc. are part and parcel of being merciful.
Very often, people feel that condemning others for their wrong doing will justify them before the society. On the contrary, it is the guilty who is usually quick to condemn the wrongdoer. Jesus graphically portrayed this attitude in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John, 8:1-11). As per the Jewish Law, the woman was to be stoned to death and they came prepared with stones to trick Jesus into giving an opinion. Jesus gave his opinion by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone. The crowd melted away within no time, the stones slipping from their hands, beginning with the eldest leaving the woman alone with Jesus! This shows that they had a conscience at least that was able to prick them when confronted with reality. Would it be the same if we were to face such a situation? If not, are we hypocrites, instead of being merciful?
The merciful are blessed because they forget about their own rights and needs and show kindness to others and heal their wounds. This is done not because they naturally like it, but because they are conscious of the fact that they themselves are forgiven and shown mercy by the Lord. Because they are merciful to others now, they will be shown mercy not only now but also in the future life to come.
Acts of mercy can arise only from a loving heart. It is an overflow of love that is usually hidden and finds an opportunity to express itself in acts of mercy. When it proceeds from love, our attitude to the beneficiary of our merciful act would be one of respect and humility. A condescending and superiority-complex driven act of mercy deprives the benefactor of all merit and reward due to the wrong motives of the action performed. It also humiliates and demoralizes the beneficiary of the act of mercy who has a right to the dignity of his or her person. Empowering others by our acts of mercy pertains to its substance over and above any material or physical assistance rendered. Empowering a person belongs to the sphere of the Spirit and is essential for the spiritual life of both the benefactor and the beneficiary.
The motive for showing mercy to others is that we have been shown mercy by God in so many ways and in several instances. If God were to extract retribution for our acts, we would not have been alive today and alive in the way we seem to thrive in the world! Since God needs nothing from us, what we can do to show devotion to God is to show mercy and assist the unfortunate ones in place of God. This very attitude is highly recommended by Jesus by proclaiming that whatever has been done for these little ones has been actually done for him (Matthew, 25:40). We have an important duty to God to show our gratitude for all the good things he has bestowed on us. This obligation is eminently fulfilled by showing mercy to the underprivileged and the weak for the sake of our love of God. Our intention and motives should be highly pure in helping others since we deal with God when we deal with our neighbor.
Besides material assistance to the needy, we can show mercy in innumerable ways that are directly connected to our spirit. Willingness to forgive others when they offend us in any manner is but a corollary to our general attitude of tolerance of others when their behavior in general is not palatable to us. Very often, the dislike we feel for others is due to difference of temperament, cultural background, education, view of life, personal circumstances etc. For the same reasons, others may not like our behavior and attitudes. Tolerance, understanding, dialogue, mutual respect and trying to learn more about others to appreciate their ways of acting etc. are part and parcel of being merciful.
Very often, people feel that condemning others for their wrong doing will justify them before the society. On the contrary, it is the guilty who is usually quick to condemn the wrongdoer. Jesus graphically portrayed this attitude in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John, 8:1-11). As per the Jewish Law, the woman was to be stoned to death and they came prepared with stones to trick Jesus into giving an opinion. Jesus gave his opinion by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone. The crowd melted away within no time, the stones slipping from their hands, beginning with the eldest leaving the woman alone with Jesus! This shows that they had a conscience at least that was able to prick them when confronted with reality. Would it be the same if we were to face such a situation? If not, are we hypocrites, instead of being merciful?
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