Learn How to Extend Mercy to Others"

Today's Mass Readings

Today's first reading from the Book of Daniel is a powerful reading. Unfortunately, it is not in most Protestant Old Testaments, since it is one of the deuterocanonical portions of the Old Testament (Judith, Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, First and Second Maccabees, and portions of Esther and Daniel) that most Protestant communities do not include in their Bibles. It was included in the Bibles used by the earliest Christians and the apostles, the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. We know this because the overwhelming majority of Old Testament citations in the New Testament are from the Septuagint. This prayer from the Book of Daniel has inspired theologians and artists throughout over two millennia. We can gather a lot from this prayer, only a portion of which is included in today's reading. I think it is important, however, to notice the context of the prayer. The three holy men have been thrown into a fire to be consumed by the flames because they refused to commit idolatry and worship the false god of the Babylonian state, King Nebuchadnezzar. God preserved them inside the fire, however, and thus these three men were saved, and Nebuchadnezzar eventually is led to conversion, according to the biblical narrative.

These pious men have a lesson for us today, especially during this season of Lent. They interpreted the Babylonian exile as a response to, or consequence of, the sins of God's people. This gives us a glimpse of the paradoxical opportunity suffering provides, particularly after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus' suffering endowed suffering with redemptive value. No longer need our suffering be empty and meaningless. God has now provided us with a means of turning suffering upside down on its head, and this is particularly true of those self-imposed forms of "suffering" we call penance. We can use these opportunities to grow closer to God, to grow in holiness. During this Lenten season, and particularly throughout our lives when the difficulties caused from suffering appear, as they inevitably will and do, let us try to recognize God's presence in our lives. Let us try to see the many ways in which God preserves us, as He did those three pious men from the Book of Daniel. This may be difficult at times, but it may also help us to build the virtue of hope.

Finally, when we begin to recognize how God has been merciful to us, preserving us in the midst of the fires of suffering, and continually forgiving us no matter how many times we fail, we are then able to extend such mercy to others. This is the message of today's Gospel reading from Matthew. Jesus tells the apostle Peter that he must forgive his brother who sins against him again and again. This is how God relates with us. God forgives us again and again, and even endows our suffering with meaning, and preserves us, despite our many faults.

Let us learn to forgive others and extend our own love and mercy when the opportunities arise. We have been forgiven much, and we have been given much more. Let us likewise forgive those who we need to forgive, and extend the mercy of God to those around us. Why don't we spend some time today and think of people we need to forgive, and then take the steps we need to take to forgive them.

Jeff Morrow