03.06.07 Sacred Journey

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The lenten daily reflections are passages from some </div> <div> of their books. In today's gospel we read the passage, "Be merciful, </div> <div> just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and will not be </div> <div> judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned." Luke 6, </div> <div> 36-37. I can't imagine in my youth praying to be more "merciful." </div> <div> Most of us learn to be "merciful" as we grow older. Being "merciful" </div> <div> is not a virtue recognized by the Canadian federal, provincial or </div> <div> municipal governments. That's probably true for the USA governments </div> <div> as well. This is why today's quote from the book Finding God in the </div> <div> Dark: Taking the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to the Movies by </div> <div> the Jesuits John Pungente and Monty Williams, spoke to me.</div> <bR> <div> "Mercy is absurd. It is neither prudent nor polite. It has no aims, </div> <div> expects no rewards and is not self-congratulatory. It strives to love </div> <div> its enemies, expecting nothing in return. In this it imitates God, </div> <div> who is "kind to the ungrateful and the selfish" Luke 6, 36.</div> <bR> <div> "The merciful are not judgmental. They know what it is to be trapped </div> <div> and then freed from those traps, and how easy it is, but for the </div> <div> constant support of God, to be trapped again. That personal history </div> <div> makes them attentive to the broken of the world, be they rich or </div> <div> poor, powerful or weak, the shamed or the shameless. It gives them </div> <div> the lived experience that helps them distinguish between want and </div> <div> need, and allows them to respond to other people's needs, for they </div> <div> recognize that because all life is interconnected, everything </div> <div> concerns us and evokes our compassion."</div> <bR> <div> May we all be "merciful" this week.</div> <bR> <div> Cecily</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>