Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes we can be tempted to think of mercy as a zero-sum game. We can think that if mercy is shown to someone else, then we somehow lose. I don’t refer to victims of evil who rightfully demand justice; I refer to the simple bitterness of viewing someone else’s “gain” as my loss. Jonah demonstrates this kind of bitterness. After preaching repentance to the Ninevites (against his own wishes), the Ninevites repented and were spared. Seeing the mercy that was shown to Ninevah, Jonah grieved. We would do well, however, to remember that the economy of mercy is not an economy of scarcity. Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, as Jesus teaches us, mercy will be shown to those who show mercy. Mercy increases as it is given. So if another is shown mercy, that does not mean that there will be none left for me. More importantly, if I show mercy, then I have not spent it, it isn’t lost - and I can expect mercy to be shown to me.