This is the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
benevolence
blessing
charity
clemency
compassion
forgiveness
generosity
goodwill
grace
leniency
pity
sympathy
tolerance
favor
forbearance
gentleness
humanity
kindness
mildness
tenderness
relief
pardon
Certainly, all of those are descriptive of God’s heartfelt mercy.
One need only look to the Crucifix to know that the Lord’s mercy
flows from his heart.
Now, I'd like to clothe myself in the Lord’s mercy
but I know that to do so,
I will first need to name how and when and where and why
I need his mercy:
In other words, I'll need to name my weaknesses, my faults,
my wrongdoing and my sins.
And that’s the hard part for us, isn’t it.
We all want the mercy,
we all want the pardon, we all want the forgiveness
but we’re not quick to acknowledge and confess
the reasons we need these things.
We know we’re not saints but we’re slow to call ourselves sinners.
We know we’re not perfect,
but it’s often so hard for us to admit our mistakes.
We know we need to make some changes,
but it’s not easy for us to begin to change.
On the other hand, we’re pretty good, some of us even expert,
at noticing our neighbor's faults and flaws
even when we’re blind to our own.
We find it easy to identify him, or her or them – as sinners
-- but not so much ourselves.
Lent is a time to look at ourselves honestly
and take a personal inventory
to see ourselves as God sees us, to stand in the light of God’s truth,
to see our own faults and weaknesses,
to see how we’ve failed God,
how we’ve failed our neighbor,
and how we’ve failed ourselves.
