Beatitudes - a Carmelite Perspective: Blessed are the Merciful

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

At first glance, this Beatitude would seem to need no explanation or commentary. It is a case of pure and simple mercy, given and received. But the actual giving and receiving is not as easy as it seems.

From the beginning, we must acknowledge that the virtue for this beatitude, like the beatitude itself, is mercy. However, its application in our daily lives, as we shall see, will be one of the most difficult of all.

Mercy, by its definition, is Forbearance, Compassion, Forgiveness, Clemency, Charity, Kindness, Benevolence, Tolerance, and Pity. Together, these will broaden our concept of mercy and help us to realize the full meaning of what it is to be merciful. We will cover each of the aspects of Mercy and how they apply to our daily living. Hopefully, we can become better persons, more contemplative, and reveal another side of the Jesus within us to our world without. We will study both the giving and receiving of mercy, as given by us to others and received by us from God.

First there is Forbearance, the quality of patience and long-suffering. We discussed patience in the previous beatitude and its position as mediator between Justice and Mercy. Here we see the fruits of patience first of all in forbearance, "bearing one another's burdens." Bearing another's burdens can be negative if it is seen as suffering through someone's criticism, insults, or misunderstandings. But it can be positive if it is patient endurance with respect and understanding for the source of the burden, knowing that we ourselves are not perfect and deserving of the same forbearance. Does not God, Himself, suffer to bear the burden of our sins with patient endurance, aware of our human nature and limitations? Happy are we who have such a patient and long-suffering Savior, and happy we should be to do the same for others.

Next is Compassion, literally meaning "with passion," the quality of both empathy and sympathy. Empathy is being able to truly understand and feel another's burdens as if they were your very own, whereas sympathy is feeling sorrow and passion with another as "response" to their situation. Psalm 102, 13-15, says: "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust." Let us strive to be both sympathetic and empathetic with people with whom we come in contact, for the giving and receiving of both are essential for true compassion and mercy. Christ became human like us in order to reveal to us His compassion for our humanity; can we do less for others?

Then there is Forgiveness, the quality of not only pardoning an offender, but to cease remembering the offense. We hear much about forgiving our enemy, but what about forgiving our spouse, or a family member, or co-worker? Those closest to us, who's faults are most apparent because of the daily contact, can be the most difficult to forgive. But the key word to forgiveness is forgetting. As Christians, we have been practicing forgiveness for centuries and what we have failed at is forgetting the offense. It seems to stay tucked away in our computer-brain without being able to clear the memory. Weeks, months, or years later, we manage to bring back the offense to our mind, and then we must do the forgiving al over again. If we could just learn to erase it completely, the forgiving would be once and for all. What a sorry and hopeless life we would have if our dear Lord was to do the same with us. Yet in Psalm 102, v. 12, He says: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He put our transgressions from us." Note that it says, "He put our transgressions from US!" Not only has He forgotten our offenses, but He wants us to forget them too. Once we are forgiven, WE ARE FORGIVEN!! For some reason we can forgive others before we can forgive ourselves. Forgiveness given to others must be received and accepted by us as well.

Now there is Clemency, the closest to mercy itself, which is the quality of leniency. It is being soft in judgment and going easy on justice. Like mercy, one must be charitable enough to manifest benevolence and good will in place of punishment or revenge. The greater the offense against us, the more we may be called upon to be lenient. The greater our sins against God, the more Jesus was prepared to suffer for us on the cross. The giving and receiving can be blessed, indeed, when our hearts become one with the bleeding heart of Jesus. When we try to know the circumstances behind the wrongful act of another, we will find that clemency becomes easy. How often our own deeds are looked upon by another with mistrust or lack of insight into our reasons, so the evil that may seem apparent at first could prove to be innocent or circumstantial after further investigation. Maybe even the evil done was, in fact, malicious and premeditated, but our clemency could cause remorse and conversion of the offender. At least we must consider all these things if we are put in a position to judge another, although it would be better to make no judgment at all.

Charity is the next aspect of Mercy we consider. They say "charity covers a multitude of sins," but I think it’s also safe to say "charity is mercy in action." Christ considered charity the greatest of virtues and this is because all other virtues are motivated and consummated in charity. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is an aspect of the giving and receiving of mercy. If we love others as ourselves, we are ready to show the forbearance, compassion, forgiveness and clemency we want for ourselves. Besides love, charity is affection and benevolence towards our fellow man and good will toward the poor and suffering. Charity has no meaning as a word unless it is put into action. Above all, in the giving of charity, it is hoped, trusted, and believed that the receiving of God's mercy will follow, thus covering the multitude of our own sins.

Next we have Kindness and Benevolence which we will put together, because of their mutual propensity for acts of goodness, graciousness, mercifulness, and affection. It is a simple act of kindness to be spouse who has had a difficult and trying day, or understanding and tenderness for our children caught in the frustrations of growing up, or a friend who has problems and needs a listening ear. But kindness and benevolence go beyond this to the neighbor who has a real need or even a total stranger who could use a friendly smile. These can all be acts of mercy as warmth, acceptance, and kinship given and received flows over into eternity. The Psalms are filled with words of kindness the Lord has for us. A sampling is: "Your kindness is from everlasting to everlasting, O Lord," and "the sins of my youth remember not; in your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord," and "all the paths of the Lord are kindness toward those who keep his covenant," ad "I will rejoice and be glad in your kindness, when youhave seenn my affliction," and finally "Let your face shine upon your servant, save me in your kindness." These are just a few quotes, as nearly every Psalm mentions kindness at least once. In the context of these Psalms, kindness is synonymous with mercy, for David feels mercy IS kindness.

Tolerance and Pity are the last two aspects of mercy to be considered. Tolerance is similar to endurance or forbearance that was previously discussed. The only difference might be a degree of empathy involved since the toleration might stem from the realization of our own inadequacies and, therefore, more acceptance for the shortcomings of others. And pity, not the self-righteous, self-serving, superfluous type, but pity that is sympathy and compassion. We are speaking of pity that produces a desire to act, to provide aid, or to spare another from pain or grief. Pity, like the other aspects of mercy that considers our own miseries and faults and, therefore, is willing to work with our fellow man towards renewal and redemption. This is not pity that wallows in itself as if there was no hope, but pity that realizes its potential to assist and represent Christto thee poor and sorrowful of this world.

You may wonder which one of the "contemporary contemplatives" will be used to discuss mercy, but the contemplative I have in mind was lively, daring, extroverted, and a great sinner. He was not of our times, but his works are as meaningful today as they were nearly 3000 years ago. He may not be a contemplative in our modern day sense, but he contemplated God day and night like no other in his time. I am speaking of King David and his Psalms. No one to that time had been such a bold sinner, and yet he received so much mercy. Never before had there been such a passionate love relationship between the Creator and His created, and it spilled over into his living. The giving of mercy by David to Saul when he had the chance to kill him and didn't was part of the receiving of mercy by David when he went into the Holy of Holies pleading forgiveness for his sins. He could dance and sing before the Lord, because he had experienced God's kindness. We, ourselves, should take such delight in the use of the Psalms in our morning and evening Office. Each time we recite one, we can imagine ourselves as Davidpleading ourr cause before our Lord and praising Him for His mercy and kindness.

In closing, I quote another verse, Psalm 51: "Have mercy on me, god, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offense."

- Excerpted in part from the writings of Sr. Patricia of Mary Magdalene

Monthly Spiritual Retreat - November

Theme: The Spirit of Penance

We are all bound to do penance; none of us has a right to dispense himself from it, for none of us is without sin or without great need of expiation. For a soul, however, that is called to walk in the way of Christ’s counsels, penance and prayer are the most important works, the most efficacious means of salvation for the soul itself and for others, the most useful instruments in the task of reparation to which chosen souls are called.

It is necessary first to possess the spirit of penance, and I must obtain it by means of renunciation, humility, and the complete union of my will with that f God. I will ask God to show me more and more how insignificant I am, and all that He has done for me. I will examine my conscience with merciless severity regarding even the smallest defects.

I will practice penance under its twofold form of suffering and mortification.

Suffering. I must accept all the sufferings that God sends me, not merely bearing them – as I do sometimes, with cowardly acquiescence, or yielding to inward despondency – but welcoming them with a glad heart and cheerful face, remembering that each of them is a fragment of my Savior’s Cross, and offering them up for the welfare of souls and the glory of God, on behalf of those dear to me and to make reparation.

Mortification. I must accept all the mortifications, spiritual or corporal, which it is God’s will that I should undergo. Further, I must seek out the mortifications of heart and mind which abound in daily life – if only we know how to find them – and also bodily mortifications arising from my state of health or from food and other outward things. I should never do anything imprudent which might injure my health or go against the wishes of others regarding myself, but there are many bodily mortifications that would do me more good than harm, and that would tend to making my body entirely subject to my soul, that would punish it a little without hurting it, and would greatly benefit my soul. I must often practice mortification as a prayer, or in the spirit of reparation.

I must accept or seek sufferings and penances in secret, doing nothing that would attract attention, but, on the contrary, showing more kindness and friendliness than usual.

From “The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: the Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband from Atheist to Priest,” Sophia Institute Press®, Manchester, New Hampshire, © 2002