Jesus, the Blessed Child of God, is merciful. Showing mercy is different from having pity. Pity connotes distance, even looking down upon. When a beggar asks for money and you give him something out of pity, you are not showing mercy. Mercy comes from a compassionate heart; it comes from a desire to be an equal. Jesus didn't want to look down on us. He wanted to become one of us and feel deeply with us.
When Jesus called the only son of the widow of Nain to life, he did so because he felt the deep sorrow of the grieving mother in his own heart (see Luke 7:11-17). Let us look at Jesus when we want to know how to show mercy to our brothers and sisters.
Henri Nouwen, from Bread for the Journey
The mercy of Christ is limitless, and his love beyond understanding. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." (1 Peter 1.3).
4 comments:
Mercy and not pity. Holocausts I want not are the words that come to mind.
Oh this is a post to ponder as I watch my garden grow.
The flowers do not know pity, yet they are filled with mercy.
Amen amen amen.
Hello Mike - [allow me to insert an off topic remark]
I want to introduce you to one of my favorite blogs which is running a post/topic that I find fascinating. Hopefully I can induce you to make a comment there. The post is: What is the Religious Climate in your country?
Thanks Tausign - I've read Jennifer's blog before, but not for a while. She's posting some good stuff, isn't she? I've replied to her survey - some fascinating answers... Thanks so much for the link.
Bless you, too, Fran - always good to hear from you here!
Mike
I appreciate that link. Interesting topic.
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