Learning the meaning of mercy...

We need silence in our lives. We even desire it. But when we enter into silence we encounter a lot of inner noises, often so disturbing that a busy and distracting life seems preferable to a time of silence. Two disturbing "noises" present themselves quickly in our silence: the noise of lust and the noise of anger. Lust reveals our many unsatisfied needs, anger or many unresolved relationships. But lust and anger are very hard to face.

What are we to do? Jesus says, "Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13). Sacrifice here means "offering up," "cutting out," "burning away," or "killing." We shouldn't do that with our lust and anger. It simply won't work. But we can be merciful toward our own noisy selves and turn these enemies into friends.

Henri Nouwen, from Bread for the Journey

Here, though Nouwen is not, intentionally anyway, referring to it, is one of the key issues for me in using the Jesus Prayer. Our mercy, for ourselves as for anyone else, lies within Jesus' mercy and depends upon it, whether we realise that or not. For me at any rate, the Prayer is so gentle and yet so insistent - there is no need to fight, to attempt to crush, our lust and our anger - we just turn again to the Prayer. They will reappear, these "distractions" (the word doesn't do justice to their insistence) - or some other, perhaps - but there is no need to worry. Turn again to the Prayer, to Jesus, and ask again for his mercy. He is the very mercy of God, and he is never tired of our prayers for that mercy.

I sometimes think that God permits us to be plagued, within measure (1 Corinthians 10:13), by things like this, just in order that we should learn the meaning of mercy, in its entirely simple and direct application to ourselves!

Oh, thank you, dearest Lord, for the Prayer!