Today we renew our
understanding of God’s mercy, as we ask for it at every Mass we attend.
Scriptures for
meditation: Isaiah 33:2: Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for
thee: be thou our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of trouble.
Tobit 8:10: Sarah also said: Have mercy on us, O
Lord, have mercy on us, and let us grow old both together in health.
Mark 10:46-48:
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho, with his
disciples, and a very great multitude, Bartimeus the blind man, the son of
Timeus, sat by the way side begging.
Who when he had heard, that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
began to cry out, and to say: Jesus son of David, have mercy on me. And
many rebuked him, that he might hold his peace; but he cried a great deal the
more: Son of David, have mercy on me.
Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off,
would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast,
saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner.
The Catechism of the Catholic Churches reminds us: 2667: This simple invocation of faith
developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The
most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai,
Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on us sinners." It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians
2:6-11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it
the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior's mercy.
Blessed John Paul
II states: Mercy in itself, as a perfection of the infinite God, is also
infinite. Also infinite therefore and inexhaustible is the Father's readiness
to receive the prodigal children who return to His home. Infinite are the
readiness and power of forgiveness which flow continually from the marvelous
value of the sacrifice of the Son. No human sin can prevail over this power or
even limit it. On the part of man only a lack of good will can limit it, a lack
of readiness to be converted and to repent, in other words persistence in
obstinacy, opposing grace and truth, especially in the face of the witness of
the cross and resurrection of Christ.http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia_en.html
My thoughts: The
Kyrie, or Lord have mercy invocation, has tremendous power in our lives. At
this time in the Mass we offer to God all of our sins, our ailments, our family
problems, and our current state in life. We ask Him to have mercy on us. We
plead for sight, physical for some, spiritual for most, as Bartimeus did. We
plead for mercy on our sins, as the publican did. In the Old Testament it was
common for the people to ask for God’s mercy when they had gone astray. Let us
take this opportunity at every Mass we attend to place all of our miseries at
the foot of the Cross, confident that the Triune God will have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins and heal our weaknesses. Then let our hearts be filled with
peace and joy and eagerness to unite ourselves to God as He comes to us in the
rest of the Mass.
Prayer: Lord
have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
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