A Question of Mercy

A Reflection on the Psalm for September 13th, 2020:
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 103

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. 

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

It is the Lord who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. 

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. 

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

“How have I personally experienced God’s mercy?” This question arose in my heart as I pondered the words in this week’s psalm, and at first it was hard to think of concrete examples. I have many stories I can share about perceiving God’s steadfast love, either during prayer or adoration. However, I had trouble remembering when I have been acutely aware of His mercy in a similarly “direct” way.

Then, I reached for my catechism and found a note in the index under ‘mercy’: “the Church bestows God’s mercy to man” (CCC 2040). The paragraph goes on to describe the nature of baptismal grace and how our belonging to the Body of Christ enables the Church to grant us God’s own mercy. This encouraged me to reflect on a different question: “how have I experienced God’s mercy through the Church?”

• When I was timid and anxious leading up to my first year of university and I was immediately connected with friends who shared my faith.
• When I asked for donations to fund my mission trip, and my fellow parishioners supported me in full within one weekend.
• When I was crying from a broken heart in a pew after mass and a priest kindly approached me and asked if I wanted to talk.
• When that conversation led to being connected with a life-giving community that helped me grow in faith, maturity, and confidence.
• Every time I have ever received the sacrament of reconciliation.

The Church has visibly revealed the Lord’s mercy to me innumerable times, and I’m sure I am blind to hidden ways God’s mercy aids, restores, and supplies for me. It has always been through the People of God — and surely by the grace of the Holy Spirit who works through the gift given at Baptism and strengthened at confirmation. In Lumen Gentium (Light to the Nations) we read that Christ, “has established His Body, which is the Church, as the universal sacrament of salvation”. You and I are made to reveal the hidden mystery of God’s love and mercy and He uses us in His mission of salvation — to save each soul whom He loves with steadfast, unconditional, and supreme love.

We are also not only meant to receive this mercy then, but we are privileged and responsible for sharing it with others in our lives. Now I’ll leave you with the question I am currently bringing to prayer: “how can I reveal Christ’s mercy to my neighbour today?” May the Spirit make us one with Christ and help us, whether consciously or unknowingly, to be as sacraments to bless others. Amen.




Kendra L.

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