HIS HEART WAS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THEM
Hos 8,4-7.11-13; Ps 113; Mt 9,32-38
10 JULY
God is the compassionate, the merciful and the forgiving. What does this divine and eternal essence of our God consist in? In his will, governed by his eternal love, to lead every man from disobedience and sin to obedience and grace. We can compare the mercy of our God to the uninterrupted work of the peasant who knows how to make a garden full of thorns into a garden where he cultivates his good seeds. The Book of Wisdom reads history and sees the merciful action of God in it.
For with you great strength abides always; who can resist the might of your arm? Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord! For truly, the ancient inhabitants of your holy land, whom you hated for deeds most odious – Works of witchcraft and impious sacrifices; a cannibal feast of human flesh and of blood, from the midst of. . . – These merciless murderers of children, and parents who took with their own hands defenceless lives, You willed to destroy by the hands of our fathers, that the land that is dearest of all to you might receive a worthy colony of God’s children. But even these, as they were men, you spared, and sent wasps as forerunners of your army that they might exterminate them by degrees.
Not that you were without power to have the wicked vanquished in battle by the just, or wiped out at once by terrible beasts or by one decisive word; But condemning them bit by bit, you gave them space for repentance. You were not unaware that their race was wicked and their malice ingrained, And that their dispositions would never change; for they were a race accursed from the beginning. Neither out of fear for anyone did you grant amnesty for their sins. For who can say to you, “What have you done?” or who can oppose your decree? Or when peoples perish, who can challenge you, their maker; or who can come into your presence as vindicator of unjust men? For neither is there any god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned; Nor can any king or prince confront you on behalf of those you have punished. But as you are just, you govern all things justly; you regard it as unworthy of your power to punish one who has incurred no blame. For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all. For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity. But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; And you gave your sons good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins. For these were enemies of your servants, doomed to death; yet, while you punished them with such solicitude and pleading, granting time and opportunity to abandon wickedness, With what exactitude you judged your sons, to whose fathers you gave the sworn covenants of goodly promises! (Wis 11,21-12,21).
Jesus is the visible manifestation of the mercy and compassion of the Father. He sees the crowd, feels compassion and talks to the heart of every man. He creates hope in them, lights them with true light and shows them the beauty of his Father.
As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was brought to him, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.” Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest.”
Mother of Mercy, Angels and Saints, make the Christian true mercy of Christ Jesus.