This month's Idea invites us to be merciful. But what is mercy? Who are the merciful? The merciful are those who have hearts filled with love for their brothers and sisters, a concrete love that bends towards the least, the forgotten, the poor, towards those in need of disinterested love. And this leads us to be happy, to feel lucky.
This proposal, a central concept in the main religions or philosophical systems (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism), can transform and revolutionize the most common principles of our way of thinking. It has the power to change the heart, the ability to create a new humanity, make the dream of a more fraternal humanity possible.
At the same time, it is necessary to experience mercy also with ourselves, to be able to forgive ourselves to the point of being able to experience extraordinary and overabundant love.
The word mercy comes from the Hebrew rehem, maternal womb, and evokes a limitless divine mercy, like the compassion of a mother for her child. It is a disinterested and welcoming love, ready to forgive. A love that does not measure, abundant, universal, concrete. A love that tends towards reciprocity, which is the ultimate goal of mercy.
So, if we have received any offense, any injustice, we forgive, convinced and certain that we too will be forgiven. We are the first to show mercy, compassion! Even if it seems difficult and daring, let's ask ourselves in front of every neighbor: how would his mother behave towards him? It is a thought that helps us understand and experience mercy.
We share this experience: "After two years of marriage, our daughter and her husband decided to separate. We welcomed her back into our home and in moments of tension we tried to love her with patience, with forgiveness and understanding in our hearts, maintaining a relationship of openness towards her and with her husband, above all trying not to have judgements. After three months of listening, discreet help and many prayers, they came back together with new awareness, trust and hope”[1].
Being merciful, in fact, is more than forgiving. It's having a big heart, looking forward to erasing everything, completely burning everything that could hinder our relationship with others. The invitation to be merciful is to offer a way to get closer to the original plan of universal brotherhood.
[1] Treats the site focolare.org