Monday of the Second Week in Lent, March 17, 2025

 Monday of the Second Week in Lent, March 17, 2025

Today’s Readings, from the USCCB:

Reading 1

Daniel 9:4b-10

"Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws. We have not obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries to which you have scattered them because of their treachery toward you. O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you. But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness! Yet we rebelled against you and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God, to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets."

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you; with your great power free those doomed to death. Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; through all generations we will declare your praise.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Verse Before the Gospel See

John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel

Luke 6:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

 

Mercy in the Mess

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." – Luke 6:36

Mercy sounds great in theory. It’s a beautiful concept – until I have to put it into practice.

Until I have to be merciful toward the people who have hurt me.

Until I have to stop judging when I feel justified in my resentment.

Until I have to forgive when the scars still sting.

I don’t think I struggle with mercy in the obvious ways.

I’m not cruel.

 I don’t go out of my way to hurt people.

I don’t hold grudges in the sense that I go looking for revenge.

But if I’m honest, I struggle with the quiet kind of unforgiveness.

The kind where I say I’ve let go, but deep down, I still feel the weight of what was done.

The kind where I’ve swallowed my pride, but I haven’t forgotten.

The kind where I’ve chosen to move on, but I still carry the hurt with me.

When Forgiveness Doesn’t Feel Fair

"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven."

I have tried to live this.

I have tried to let go of the hurt from people I once called good friends – the ones who gossiped, who shut me out, who turned a place I loved into a place I no longer felt welcome.

I have tried to let go of the pain caused by family – the ones who judged, who spoke poorly about me behind my back, who never once talked to me before they decided I wasn’t worth standing by.

I have tried to forgive them.

And in many ways, I have.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t still struggle with it.

Because sometimes, I still feel the injustice of it.

Sometimes, I still wonder, Why should I have to be the one to move forward while they never even acknowledge the damage they did?

Sometimes, mercy feels like letting people off the hook when they don’t deserve it.

And then, I read the first reading.

The Mercy I’ve Been Given

Daniel’s prayer isn’t gentle.

It’s raw.

It’s honest.

"We have sinned, been wicked, and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws."

He isn’t making excuses.

He isn’t justifying anything.

He’s laying it all out before God, fully aware that Israel doesn’t deserve forgiveness.

But then, the truth that breaks through it all: "But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!"

If anyone has the right to withhold mercy, it’s God.

If anyone has the right to say, No, you knew better, and I’m not letting this go, it’s Him.

And yet – He forgives anyway.

Not because we deserve it.

Not because we’ve earned it.

But because that’s who He is.

And if I want to follow Him – really follow Him – that has to shape who I am, too.

A Different Way to Measure

"For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

That’s a hard thought to sit with.

Because if God treats me the way I’ve treated others – if He forgives me in the same way I forgive – how much trouble am I in?

Have I been withholding grace while expecting it to be poured out for me?

Have I been measuring out mercy in controlled, careful amounts while hoping God gives it to me overflowing?

I don’t want to be that kind of person.

I don’t want to be someone who clings to hurt while claiming to follow a God who lets it go.

I don’t want to be someone who asks for forgiveness but struggles to give it in return.

The Challenge for Today

Today, I have a choice.

I can keep carrying the weight of old wounds.

I can keep waiting for apologies that may never come.

I can keep measuring mercy in small portions, giving only as much as I feel comfortable with.

Or – I can finally lay it down.

I can choose mercy, not because they deserve it, but because I do, too.

I can trust that God sees it all – that I don’t have to hold onto the pain, because He already knows what was done.

And I can forgive, not to let them off the hook, but to free myself.

Because the truth is – mercy isn’t just about them.

It’s about me.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s time to let go.