Mercy and Love

1/19/2021

Mark 12:30-31 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

James 2:13 "...Mercy triumphs over judgement."

As we prepare for the transition of power in our country tomorrow, we are still experiencing a lot of division. In my humble opinion, both parties contributed to this erosion of our country. Recently, an article was brought to my attention about a priest who had a crisis of conscience. He struggled when it came to speaking to his congregation about the issues that have been taking place in our government. He finally decided to do so. I am sure that he gave much thought and prayer towards what he was going to say beforehand. I was saddened to read that so many of his parishioners, who took offense to his words, walked out of mass instead of staying to start a dialogue with him afterwards. This is why we have so much division in our country: we have stopped listening to those who feel differently than we do, and have resorted to fear-mongering and shouting instead of listening with respect. This, of course, is exactly what the evil one wants: nothing but our total destruction will do. 

I have seen many priests and ministers in the media speaking out who align themselves with either party, and they are free to do so and not be judged for it. However, my question is this: as believers, how do we lead and become part of the solution? Shouldn't we do our best to resemble, reflect, and reveal Christ in our lives in all we do? He always led with love, mercy, and grace even unto His death at Calvary. If He could forgive those who mocked, tortured, and crucified Him, shouldn't I be able to respect and forgive those who do not think or act like me? If we all put our Christianity above our politics, wouldn't we become part of the healing? What if we devoted ourselves to praying for our leaders to become more humble, seek wisdom, and either gain or deepen their faith? Isn't this a better use of our precious time then living in anger, division, or offense? We are told in God's word to love our neighbors as ourselves, and this is not a conditional command. We are to show Christ's love to everyone, without exception. Maybe it is time to turn our focus back to faith, secure our armor, love in truth, and seek God's word in times of turmoil. Let us extend mercy and love to everyone, just like God extends those things to us.