Saturday, October 18, 2014

Evangelize and live mercy

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary inspire consideration of what aspect of God is most attractive to humanity? Molly Mattingly suggests that the readings today are like a how-to manual for evangelization. She notes that successful evangelization rests on the foundation of the Golden Rule. The humanity of Paul who describes some of his needs and disappointments in the text from the letter to Timothy reminds us that we need to live simply and be open to help from others. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us that we bring the message of the Gospel to everyone but that some will not be ready to hear our message. The timing of personal recognition of the Love of God is not our domain. Our work for the harvest will likely be brought to fruition by someone else.In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus is preparing missionaries for the work of being His witnesses. The Gospel written by Luke is named the Gospel of Mercy.The only account of the deep mercy of Jesus to the thief who is crucified next to Him comes from Luke. It is the quality of the mercy that we show others which presents that most attractive Divine Attribute which bears fruit in the vineyard in which His disciples are giving witness to others.

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