MERCILENT 2016 - 27th February

BE JOYFUL: You are loved without measure!

Saturday, 2nd week in Lent
Mic 7: 14-15, 18-20; Lk 15: 1-3,11-32

Just yesterday, I heard that touching song that speaks of God's grace as, 'Oh Outrageous Grace!'...yes, an outrageous grace. An immeasurable love, an abundant grace, limitless mercy...that is God. What should I fear when the Lord loves me with such an immeasurable love. The Lord looks at me as a shepherd madly in love with his sheep, willing to lay down his life for his sheep, however undeserving I may be.

The Call is twofold here: one, however immeasurable God's love is, I need to make myself deserving of that great love of God. If not, I run the risk of depriving myself of that outrageous love, that immeasurable mercy by distancing myself from the Father like that younger son.

The second call is to accept my brother (or sister) who fails! If I do not look kindly on the limitations of my brothers and sisters and show mercy to them, accepting them with forgiveness and forbearance, I would be standing out of the house of my Father, again depriving myself of the mercy and love I can receive without measure!

I need to be filled with joy that the Lord loves me, then nothing will disturb me! I would be ready to experience the mercy of the Father and share the same with the other. When I lack that joy, I would turn so negative that I will deprive myself of all mercy!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Rejoice, the Lord loves you!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #2

#2 The Motto

What we shall be doing in the coming days is first to understand the logo offered for our minds this year. The first element that stands out from the logo is the motto: Lk 6:36.

MERCIFUL AS THE FATHER: Mercy is the identity,  a call and a challenge to an authentic disciple of Christ.

Mercy is that dimension of love that highlights unconditionality of a person's love and the need to offer and ask for forgiveness. That is the identity of a true Christian. For from this they will know you are my disciples- from the love that you have for one another.

At times we begin with great spirits but we stop very soon owing to difficulty in finding models! The call is to grow up towards being like the Father. The Father is the ideal, the image towards which we grow.

That is obviously a challenge too! It is a life long task to grow to be like the Father. Be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect (Mt 5:48)... that's the Mattean version of the motto.

'Keep Growing'...that is in other words what the motto says. We can never stop growing. The heavenly Father is the one who calls, is the model and the destiny towards which we grow.

MERCILENT 2016 - 26th February

BE CAREFUL : The Master will return

Friday, 2nd Week of Lent

Gen 37: 3-4,12-13,17-28; Mtt 21: 33-43,45-46

Being recipients of mercy does not exempt us from being careful! Taking care that we do not fall out of gear with the entire ambient of mercy that the Lord creates. Within the design of the Lord there is an eternal stock of mercy, but at times we may make choices and decisions that might remove us from the whole circle of mercy!

Speaking to the Young, they ask with alarm, 'will God never punish'...'he will punish at an extreme level won't he'...'does the mercy of God exclude punishments for sins'...these are genuine attempts the young make to balance between mercy and justice on the part of God. I love to tell them, you need not try to paint God in a balanced picture! God is not a perfect balance of justice and mercy, the Lord is merciful in God's justice too! God's justice in a great way includes an abundance of mercy. But that in no way makes it easy for one who decides to stay away from the mercy of God! 

Be careful to choose the mercy of God; take care to submit yourself willingly to the mercy of God. When the Master returns He must find you within this ambient of mercy, if not it would have been your fault.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Take care of every moment and remain within the ambient of mercy!