Blessed are the merciful!
58 What Christian value is express by the fifth Beatitude?
The fifth Beatitude is: Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
This attitude of the Christian (that of loyal compassion is on of of forgiveness and outgoing love. We give to others what we our selves have received from God. In this we follow Christ who came "not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved" (John 3:17). Jesus' parable of the unforgiving debtor (see Matthew 18:23-35), who was excused payment of a fortune by his master but enforced payment of a few pennies from a fellow servant, illustrates the horror of our reluctance to forgive.
God will judge us on the way we share his mercy with others: "If you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours, but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either" (Matthew 6:14-15). Our forgiveness must go so far as to win back those who have strayed, as Christ the Good Shepherd, seeks out the lost sheep, joyfully takes it on his shoulders, and invites all to rejoice.
In this way, those who show mercy will have mercy shown them.
We are told that on one occasion the great I Italian artist, Michelangelo, was spending a I quiet evening with some friends. The conversation turned, as it so often does, to the faults and failings of absent friends. The personality of each was closely analyzed; and none emerged from the scrutiny completely unscathed. As the evening wore on, the group noticed that Michelangelo was quiet and not joining in the fun. They turned to the great artist and asked him why.
"I'm thinking of a painting," Michelangelo explained. At this, the friends' interest was roused; they knew that a painting from Michelangelo would be great indeed and asked him what it was. The artist offered to paint it for them, then and there. He covered a canvas with white paint and in the middle painted a small black circle, filling it with black paint.
"What do you see?" asked Michelangelo. The friends looked puzzled. "We can see a black spot," they replied. Michelangelo paused for a moment. "I thought you would see that," he said. "What I see is a large area of white."
The story portrays the attitude of most of us. In each of us there is a great deal of goodness, a large area of "white." And yet the first thing we see in another's character is the blemish, the " little black spot." And by our words, we magnify that spot out of all proportion, destroying the character of another.
Of course, we all have our faults. And so, like Peter (in Matthew 18:21-22), we wonder what limits we are to place on our mercy: "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me?" Christ's answer is clear. There is no one whom he did not consider worth dying for. The love of Jesus for ail people has made them all lovable. There is to be no limit to the mercy we offer others.
But we cannot show mercy if we have not learned to experience God's mercy with ourselves. So often, we allow the memory of past sins to weigh us down. We are like the old woman climbing a steep hill carrying two heavy buckets of water. A farmer driving a wagon stopped to ask if she wanted a lift. Gratefully, she climbed into the cart, still carrying the buckets of water. After a while, the farmer suggested she put the buckets down, but the woman refused. "No," she said, "I would prefer to take some of the weight off the poor horse by carrying them myself!"
Jesus took the weight of our sins upon himself on Calvary. It would be the worst form of ingratitude to allow past sins to come between ourselves and God. God forgives us. And, in the same measure, we are to show mercy to others.
Supplementary Material
Making a Moral Decision
What is the process?
a. We identify the moral issue in question.
b. We inform our conscience by finding out what the Church teaches, what the common view of others is, what are the social values.
c. We ponder the issue in light of Christ's invitation to live and love as he did.
Clear-cut Decisions
We know what the facts of the case, what the church's teaching is, and what Christ is calling us to do.
Clouded Decisions
The right decision is not immediately evident. It requires the weighing of pros and cons. It requires consultation with those involved, and perhaps the advice of a wise and holy person.
Controversial Decisions
After following the steps of making a moral decision, we feel obligated to follow our own conscience even over the advice of other sincere Christians.
Contrary Decisions
This moral decision goes contrary to official church teaching, and this in face of the church's authority which comes from Jesus, and the guidance that Jesus assured his church through the Holy Spirit.
The levels of Church teaching
1. The church teaches as one possessing absolute certainty, for instance, in teaching that the Eucharist is really the Body of Christ. On our part we must give full "faith assent".
2. The church teaches as one possessing less than absolute certainty on a given matter. The church provides an informed opinion in light of Christ's teaching and the practice of Christians in previous centuries. This requires of us "religious assent." This means that we accept the reliability of church teaching because Jesus authorized the church to teach in His name, and assured us of the Spirit's guidance. An example of this sort of teaching may be the practice of artificial birth control, a grave matter but one on which the church does not teach infallibly.
Quiz
58-1. Blessed are the merciful, for they:
a. shall receive many smiles
b. shall escape the Judgment
c. shall obtain mercy
d. shall possess the judgment seat
58-2. John 3:17 says that Christ came "not to condemn the world, but ..."
a. that the world may be saved.
b. that his disciples would learn to love others as they have been loved.
c. that believers could celebrate life everlasting.
d. that we might be born again of water and the spirit.
58-3. The debtor in the parable of Matthew 18:23-35 was condemned because:
a. he failed to realize that a penny saved is a penny earned.
b. his extortion of a small debt from a fellow servant.
c. he failed to show gratitude to his master who forgave him his debt.
d. faulty filing of the petition for Chapter 11.
58-4. The criterion of receiving divine forgiveness in Mt 6:14- 15 is:
a. whether we have earned enough indulgences.
b. if we have somebody on earth to pray for us while we are in purgatory.
c. whether we qualify as a lamb or a goat on the final judgment.
d. whether we have forgiven others.
58-5. Which description of Christ best illustrates his seeking of the lost and strayed:
a. The vine and the branches
b. The bread of life
c. The way, the truth and the life
d. The good Shepherd
58-6. Michelangelo's painting of a small black dot on a white canvas showed:
a. that we tend to focus in on other's faults.
b. that a lost sheep had strayed over the canvas when it was laying flat.
c. that we are responsible for other people's blemishes.
d. that we magnify other people's goodness out of all proportion.
58-7. Christ's teaching that we must forgive 70 times 7 means:
a. 490
b. the square root of 490
c. no limit to the mercy we should offer others.
d. just as often as Peter, who asked the question, would forgive.
58-8. It is desirable that the memory of our past sins should:
a. weigh us down so we don't repeat them.
b. weigh down the horses pulling the wagon to the temple altar.
c. not weigh us down since Jesus took the weight of our sins.
Vocabulary
Absolution =the forgiveness and healing of sin (#1448)
Conscience = a judgment of reason whereby one recogcnizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform. (#1778)
Contrition = sorrow of the soul and a destation for the sin committed (CCC 31451)
Perfect contrition = arises from a love of God
Imperfect contrtion (attrition)= arises from a consideration of sinıs ugliness, or the fear of eternal damnation and other penalties. Arises from fear.
Indulgence = a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guuilt has already been forgiven. (#1471)
Satisfaction = doing what is possible to repair the harm that has been done by sin; compensation for injuries. (#1459) Also called ³penance.²
Daily Prayer
INSTRUCTIONS
Select a colored pencil to mark each of these passages in your Bible so that you can relate them to each other. In your notebook write the scripture reference and then summarize it in a short sentence.
Day 1: Micah 6:8
Day 2: Ps 111:1-10
Day 3: Lk 6:36-38
Day 4: Zech 7:9-14
Day 5: Heb 13:3
Day 6: Sir 7:27-36