So the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity – Exodus 34:6
Ordinarily, when we think of the image of mercy, we think of an image of sparing someone from a penalty that they supposedly deserve. We also think of the image of forgiving a friend regardless of what he or she has done that has given us offense. We may even think of the phrase “forgive and forget” as a definition of how mercy should be done. These are just some examples of the images or phrases that come into our minds when we think of the word “mercy.” Though these mindsets are indeed correct, there is another dimension of mercy that our Faith teaches us; that is the dimension of conversion.
While of course, it is true that mercy is the aspect of forgiving people who have given us offense, there is also a call that we are to encourage them and even guide them, to no longer do the action that has given us offense and causes them to sin. A person who pleads for mercy cannot say he is truly sorry if he or she is not willing to change for the better. If we forgive and they do not attempt to change their habits and ways, the cycle will simply repeat itself and will lead them back to sin. While there is a sacrament of confession to help cleanse the sin of the person, ultimately it will be useless if the person will not attempt to change for the better. We take the grace of God for granted and make it a free pass to sin again.
Let us not take the grace and mercy of the Lord for granted. Let the mercy from the Lord lead us to conversion. As the Lord is faithful to us through thick and thin, may we be faithful to our love for Him by changing our ways and our habits that we may sin no more. Let us also allow the grace of God to fill us up that we may be able to overcome temptation that we may remain faithful to Him.
You may visit Tito Frank Padilla’s Built on Rock Reflections through this link.
Kuya Miguel Magtibay is a full-time Missionary in MFC Youth. He is also the Zone Coordinator of Metro Manila and the program coordinator of MFC CAMPUS.
