We have been invited by Pope Francis to live this 2016 Holy Year of Mercy in the light of the Lord’s words: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful: (Luke 6:36), for in mercy, “we find proof of how God loves us. God give his entire self, always, freely, asking nothing in return. God comes to our aid whenever we call upon him.”
Pope Francis encourages us “to contemplate constantly the mystery of mercy” and “rediscover and make fruitful God’s mercy, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time.”
So throughout the year we can often focus on Jesus’ example of mercy – that constant compassion in which he takes each person that he meets and responds to what each person needs most, whether it be a caring word, a healing touch, a challenging call to conversion of a comforting presence amid sorrow or suffering. Jesus’ wholehearted mercy includes not only words, but also actions that change the person with whom he interacts. So it is with us. When we encounter Jesus through readings and prayer, we are indeed changed and expected to imitate his merciful example with each person with whom we interact. `excerpts from Steve Mueller, Words of Grace