When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:11-32, NRSV.
Mercy is intentioned and generous. When a person acts mercifully s/he never judges or pretends to know what is in the other person’s mind, never withholds unconditional mercy or sympathy. Sympathy is a good word to use when speaking of mercy because it means “to feel with” someone else.
The father might have been angry or hurt. He might have said, “That ungrateful kid is not welcome here anymore.” But he did not give in to his lower instincts. His son was to him, what he had always been. His son. And he could not imagine any other response to his son’s utter contrition than mercy.
The older son, who had never left home, nor demanded anything from the father was not like his father. He complained and refused to join the party to welcome his brother back. He was the one who said, “You got what was coming to you.” And “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” There was no room in his life for a foolish, selfish brother who wasted the financial bequest given to him by his father.
In the parable, we are all the prodigal son in terms of the scope of errors and sins we have made in our lives. We are the ones who need the mercy of others.
But we often forget that, thinking of ourselves as deserving, obedient, and pious. “Why can’t you be like me,” you can hear us saying under our breath. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ saying that we should “First take the log our of our own eye before attempting to get the speck out of our friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5.
Mercy is a reflection of our heart. It is not a skill or superpower; it emerges from deep down inside us where compassion and love reside. It was almost like instinct for the Prodigal’s father. Jesus said that people like that will receive mercy as a result.
Prayer:
Dear Father, you, and you alone, have taught us what mercy is. You have always been patient with us when we don’t deserve it. Like the Prodigal, we have gone away into the far country and have lived away from you and your love. Please awaken in us the spirit of Mercy, as shown by his father. May we not be so quick to judge and pretend that we could possibly know what another suffers or why they live as they do. May we be for them a reflection of your grace and mercy. Amen.