Posted on 01/29/2016 8:13:21 AM PST by Salvation
In today's gospel the Lord gives us a very practical reminder: "The measure that you measure to others will be measured back to you." What does this mean?
Well, if you were on your way to court and you received advice as to how you could influence the judge to be less severe in your case would you not seriously consider following that advice? Surely you would--unless of course the "advice" involved bribery or some other corrupt activity.
And in fact Jesus, our judge, has described an upright way by which we can avoid severity on the Day of Judgment. Simply put, the way is for us to show mercy to others.
Now I don't know about you, but I am going to need a lot of mercy on the Day of Judgment! So I am very glad that the Lord has shown us how we can positively influence the outcome on Judgment Day. Consider some of the following texts:
So the basic point is clear enough: if we want to be shown mercy when we are judged (and trust me, we're all going to need a lot of it), then we need to pray for a merciful heart.
Let's even go so far as to say that if anyone is harsh, mean-spirited, unforgiving, hypercritical, or condemning, he is a fool. He is simply storing up wrath for himself on the Day of Judgment. Now why would anyone want to do that?
Mercy is our only hope of avoiding strict judgment. And these texts show us that mercy here in this world will lead to mercy on Judgment Day.
It is true that there are times in this world when punishments must be issued and penalties assessed. Further, correction must be given to those in error. But to the degree that these are made with an eye to correction and reform, they are part of love and relate to mercy. Fraternal correction is a work of charity. It is better to suffer punishment in this world that leads to reform, than to evade punishment here and possibly end up in Hell. Thus, not all punishment/correction is excluded by the edict of mercy, but let love and mercy be the sources from which it comes.
So here is some advice to the wise: bury the hatchet now. Ask the Lord for a merciful and forgiving heart or else suffer the full force of a strict judgment. Pay attention! The judge is willing to be influenced on our behalf and has told us what will move him in our direction. Why hesitate any longer? The merciful are blessed because will be shown mercy. And without mercy, we don't stand a chance.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Mercy comes from God, by request and belief in Christ. I can not show it to the merciless. Only He can.
Are you saying that you have never extended mercy to your teenager when they came in 5 minutes after their set curfew time?
Or that you never donated food to an organization that helps with the hungry or homeless?
Do you need to get a new church with some doctrine that follows Christ’s example. How many times did he display mercy toward the blind, the sick, etc.?
Did you ever carry a wounded buddy off the battlefield? That was “mercy” if you did so.
How do we forgive? Show Mercy.
Do we just forgive the debt or the transgression? Do we forgo lawsuits to achieve justice?
Do we tell others about our forgiveness or just hold it within ourselves?
How do we show Mercy on major sins like abortion, heresy, etc?
How do we show Mercy and continue to support the teachings of Jesus?
Or that you never donated food to an organization that helps with the hungry or homeless?
"I can not show it to the merciless" was my statement. I don't see my semi-prodigal kid or the hungry and homeless as merciless.
Show mercy to a Muslim (or a progressive, for that matter) and it is taken as a sign of weakness and an invitation to attack.
I guess that's true of all 1.6 billion muslims on God's good earth.
How many progressives do you think are on this planet? Do they get your version "Christian chartity" as well?
I did have a problem with a Muslim woman once.
My husband and I were in the Cairo airport (A MESS!) and there were NO empty seats. However, there was ONE empty seat next to a veiled Muslim woman. With her veil I knew that she was a Saudi woman. She had a book on the empty seat next to her.
I asked her politely to please move her book because I was SO TIRED. She ignored me.
I asked again. She ignored me.
I then told her that I WAS going to sit down ON the book if she didn't move it.
She raised her voice at me saying that it was the KORAN. I said: "Move it or I sit on it."
She moved the book and spent the rest of the time glaring at me. I glared back...and enjoyed EVERY second of it. That was a good day.
No, it's not. But due to the policy of taqiyya, none of that 1.6 billion can be trusted.
???You judge 1.6 billion people not to be trustworthy.???
You have made YOURSELF a god.
SHAME on you.
I do not JUDGE them. I evaluate their trustworthiness based upon their own "holy" book's requirements. And I am about as far from being a god (small G intentional, only the One God rates a capital) as one can get.
I feel no shame for an attitude arrived at in self-defense. And one of my prayers in the "add your intentions to these" portion of the Mass is that those mired in Islam find Christ and be saved. But even then, their Christianity could be taqiyya. A sad commentary on an evil "faith".
If spoken truthfully, the Shahada (Islamic profession of faith) would be as follows: There is no Allah but Satan, and Muhammad was his murdering pedophile.
You ARE judging.
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