Pilgr-image 09 - The Merciful

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7

In his book The Name of God Is Mercy, Pope Francis tells of a time when a younger Capuchin priest came to him in Buenos Aires and told him: “I always have so many people at the confessional, people of all walks of life, some humble and some less humble, but many priests too.… I forgive a lot and sometimes I have doubts, I wonder if I have forgiven too much.” Francis asked him what he did when he had those doubts. The priest replied: “I go to our chapel and stand in front of the tabernacle and say to Jesus: ‘Lord, forgive me if I have forgiven too much. But you’re the one who gave me the bad example!’”  - Charles Moore sharing a story of Pope Francis and a young priest

The day I wrote this reflection, I took my dog for a walk in a light morning rain.  It wasn’t one of those rains where you’re soaked seemingly the moment you walk outside nor was it the kind of rain where it is so light that it just feels like a mist.  It was the kind of rain where you could feel every gentle raindrop.  It was lovely.  As Scout and I walked, I was thinking about this part of the Sermon on the Mount and I remembered the well known verses in Lamentations 3:22-23 which says:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

This is the “bad example” that the young priest refers sarcastically to in the story above.  It is the example of the extravagant love and mercy of God that comes upon us each day.  And the thing about those mercies is that they are like the rain.  Sometimes we can feel each one like the light rain I felt this morning.  They fall gently upon us and we know they are there.  Sometimes they come like a massive downpour when it feels like we cannot even comprehend how great the mercy of God really is.  And sometimes, we struggle to feel them like that light misty rain but they are still falling.  But there they are… never ceasing… new every morning… And what a gift it is to receive those mercies and what a gift it is to share those mercies with others.