Gospel (Lk 6:36-38)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Commentary

This brief passage that the Church invites us to consider today presents the core of our Lord’s teaching regarding the love and mercy that Christians are called to show others, and that are manifested, in a special way, in forgiving.

In the Bull announcing the Year of Mercy in 2016, Pope Francis wrote: “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.”^[1]

The measure of Christ’s love on the Cross is a love without measure, a forgiveness that embraces everyone. Our Lord’s words here are very demanding, and we are called to imitate him in his Love for all mankind.

Sometimes we may think that imperfections and sins, our own and those of others, are an insurmountable barrier to winning over the heart of God. But as Saint Francis de Sales said, “God certainly abhors faults, since they are faults. But in a certain sense, our faults are pleasing to Him since they give Him the opportunity to show his mercy, and they give us the opportunity to become humble, and to understand and share in the failings of our neighbor."^[2]

^[1]Pope Francis, Bull Convoking the Year of Mercy, 4 April 2014, no. 2.

^[2] Saint Francis de Sales, cit. by Pope John Paul I, General Audience, 20 September 1978.