Mercy that pleases God

God loves us, but the beauty of this statement is that He is not constantly checking the spiritual inventories of His children to condition their love. He is not like a trade inspector who examines our faults and falls to put his mercy into action. Christ made us righteous before God, not because of what we love Him, but because He loved us first and has many more plans for you than you can have for Him. To enforce those plans, He must show mercy in your life. and again, again and again. The new wine will not be denied to your wineskins and even if they age, it will not spill. God is always by your side. He loves justice and the earth is full of his mercy (Psalm 33.5)

In Jesus' time, the religious on duty, attached to the precepts of the Law and obsessed with enforcing it to all equally, forgot in practice to show mercy to the poor and the marginalized of society and justified their obedience to God through the sacrifices in the temple and thus, purge their sins.

I want mercy and not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13), the Lord said to the religious hypocrites of his time. 2000 years have passed and the voice of God resounds in the ears of the Pharisees of this century. Why so many Bible studies, discipleship on the love of God, seminars and spiritual retreats on the subject if our spiritual sacrifices seem to be divorced from the mercy that the Lord demands of us on behalf of our neighbor? When was the last time you held out your hand to the street beggar or hugged the one who suffers the onslaught of life? Was a simple prayer for the sick enough to make you feel pious and that you had been moved with mercy?

We must know that God's mercy has to be accompanied by action, otherwise it remains on the threshold of piety and although God wants us to be pious, he is more glorified if we add the gift of mercy to it. Mercy is acting, it is not a concept that remains in the intellectual, in the consciousness. It is not compassion, but action.

Can you imagine a God indifferent and apathetic to our sin showing only mercy and compassion for our rebellions and frailties without putting his mercy into action? Did we deserve it? Of course not! Mercy is receiving from God the favor we do not deserve. How much more are we committed to God in offering mercy to all, especially to those who have not yet met him, to man still captive to sin, and lost as we once were? God expects us to be merciful: “He who oppresses the poor insults his Maker; But he who has mercy on the poor honors him ”(Prov 14:31) says the Lord. In this context, to have mercy is to give, is to lift, it is to attend with acts of concrete request to the need, it is to demolish religiosity and prejudices and to show the face of solidarity.

The religious of yesterday and today understand that God's mercy is essentially directed to those who have already known God's grace for salvation. Certainly the people of God cry out for mercy, but it is the sinners in captivity who need it most and since they do not understand it, nor do they know that they need it, nor do they know of God's love, we are the ones chosen to bring it to them with the Good News of a God who can transform their lives. Sacrifice (religiosity) is not what God prefers, but mercy. He came to seek sinners, not the "righteous."

How good it is to know that his mercy is eternal, perpetual, forever! God encourages us to practice mercy as a gift of the Holy Spirit, not only in favor of our brothers in the faith. The merciful eye will be blessed, Because it gave of its bread to the needy (Prov. 22: 9). Homelessness also means helpless, unhappy, dispossessed. In other times we were also destitute and God showed us his merciful face, decided to cleanse our wounds and heal us forever. He is slow to anger - can you imagine if it were the opposite? - and great in mercy (Exodus 34: 6).

God bless you!