Blessed Is the Merciful

Mercy is one of the most beautiful words there is. It comes from "miserere" (to feel another's pain) and "cor" (heart). It's the heart that feels along with. The heart that doesn't close itself off in the face of another's misery.

Jesus declares blessed — happy, favored — the merciful. Not those who never made a mistake, not the most perfect, not the ones with the tidiest theology. The merciful.

And there's a beautiful promise here: "they shall obtain mercy." What you give away comes back to you. Not as some automatic exchange, not as magic. But because whoever learns to give mercy becomes more open to receiving it — from God and from people.

The merciful person doesn't look at another's mistake as grounds for condemnation. She looks at it as grounds for compassion. She knows she herself has needed someone to look at her that way.

Today, is there someone who needs you to look at them with mercy — not judgment? Someone who made a mistake and is bracing for condemnation, but could instead receive compassion?

You have the power to be that reflection of God today.