Mercy

by David Lins  |  09/11/2022  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

I’ve said it before—free will is great, when it belongs to you. But it becomes a problem when other people are allowed to use it.

Mercy works in much the same way. We love it when God has mercy on us. We hope others forgive our driving if we are having an emergency. We are grateful when folks give us a little latitude in the aftermath of personal tragedy.

But when God forgives someone who has hurt a loved one? When someone cuts us off in traffic? When someone doesn’t give us the high level of customer service we expect?

We aren’t quite as excited about those scenarios, are we?

I think of the prodigal son’s brother. A guy who by all accounts did everything that was asked of him. He was faithful as he served his father over the years.

He was perfect. Externally.

Internally, he had some issues. He wasn’t serving his father with a pure heart, giving freely without expectation. He was “earning” something. Maybe he expected the entire family estate upon his father’s passing. Maybe he only wanted his dad’s love. Maybe he wanted to be recognized for stepping up when his brother screwed up.

The point is… he wanted something. He expected something. He was not serving his father out of pure love for his father. This was revealed when his brother returned.

If he just loved his father and wanted him to be blessed, certainly the return of his brother—and the joy it gave to his dad—would have been cause for him to rejoice, as well.

Instead, he made it about himself. He was unable to freely rejoice for his dad—and even his brother. No. He was more interested in justice than mercy.

He forgot that it was his father’s role to decide what was just, what was fair, and what was worth celebrating.