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Connections&
June 9, 2002--Tenth Sunday of the Year
"The Pharisees said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher ear with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus heard this and said, "Those who are well do not
need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the
meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice... '" Matthew 9:9-13
'The quality of mercy... '
During the Napoleonic Wars, a young, battle-weary French soldier fell asleep while on guard duty. He was court-martialed, found guilty and sentenced to death. His widowed mother appealed her son's case to every level of command; in her persistence, she managed to obtain an audience with the Emperor himself. Falling at his feet, the woman begged him to spare her son's life, explaining that he was her only child and sole means of support.
"I do not ask for justice," she said, "I plead for mercy."
"Madam, your son deserves no mercy. He deserves to die," Napoleon said coldly.
The mother immediately replied, "You are right, sire, of course. That is why I am asking you for mercy. If he were deserving, it would not be mercy."
The Emperor was so touched by the logic of her words that he pardoned the soldier.
CONNECTION: Mercy--to extend love, peace, compassion, forgiveness and support to those who have done nothing to deserve them--is the cutting edge of the Gospel. Indeed, before God, none of us are deserving of anything--including the very gift of life; all that we are and have are the gifts of a God whose profound and unimaginably limitless love compels him to create, nurture and bless us. With the humility required of mercy, we can rebuild relationships with others and restore lives destroyed by acts motivated by greed and injustice. In today's Gospel, Jesus repeats the words of the prophet Hosea: God seeks no greater gift from us than our gextending God's mercy to others. u
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