XXII — BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

Presence of God. — O Holy Spirit, make my heart merciful in imitation of Heart of Jesus.

Meditation

1 — Through the gift of counsel the Holy Spirit wants to take practical direction of our life to lead us to holiness. Therefore all Christian perfection, which was object of Jesus’ teaching, is likewise object of gift of counsel, of suggestions of the Holy Spirit: “He will suggest to you all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14:26), declared the Master.

Yet as in Jesus’ teaching there is one dominant note — love, which He calls his commandment — so among inspirations of the gift of counsel there is one generally recognized as proper effect of this gift: mercy.

Proposing his commandment, Jesus said: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). Now the fundamental characteristic of his love, of God’s love for men, is precisely mercy. All creatures are misery before God, misery unable to subsist without continual intervention of his action. And we men, what are we? Not only misery unable to subsist, but misery capable of sin. By ourselves “we are nothing, can do nothing, are worth nothing, have nothing except sin” (St. John Eudes). We are therefore misery in fullest sense of the word.

Thus, when God loves us, his love is essentially and necessarily an act of mercy: love that bends down to our misery to lift it, sustain it, enrich it with his infinite riches. This is what Holy Spirit proposes in particular to accomplish in us through gift of counsel: to teach us to copy this mercy, principal characteristic of God’s love for us.

The Holy Spirit wants to lead us to perfect observance of Jesus’ commandment, that is, to imitate merciful love of his divine Heart: “Love one another as I have loved you.” He wants to bring us to imitate infinite mercy of heavenly Father: “Be merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Lk. 6:36).

2 — God is infinitely merciful because He knows our misery to the depths. We are little merciful because we know it too little. The Holy Spirit, through gift of counsel, enlightens us on this point, first regarding our natural misery. In failures and falls He repeats in depth of heart Jesus’ admonitions: “Without Me you can do nothing ... you are unprofitable servants” (Jn. 15:5; cf. Lk. 17:10). Little by little this lesson, made more vivid and effective by experience, penetrates deeply into our soul. We no longer need long reasonings to be persuaded of insufficiency, of our nothingness: we see it, touch it by hand. Gift of counsel has opened our eyes.

Understanding our natural misery makes us understanding also of others’ misery. How can one who is truly convinced of his own fragility, weakness, and inconstancy dare condemn others? “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone” (Jn. 8:7), the Holy Spirit suggests interiorly when, indignant over others’ faults, we may be tempted to imitate hard gesture of Pharisees toward adulterous woman.

The Holy Spirit wants to carve in us lineaments of Jesus, wants to transform us into living images of Savior; therefore gently and incessantly He pushes us to mercy. He puts in our heart love for the miserable: miserable in material order, miserable in moral order, so that, like Jesus, we go in search of them, ready to sacrifice ourselves for their salvation.

He urges us especially to seek those who have made us suffer, who have special right to our mercy. Then we cannot content ourselves with forgiving them and treating them with meekness; we will feel need to benefit them, to carry out fully Jesus’ teaching: “Do good to them that hate you” (Mt. 5:44).

This is where the Holy Spirit wants to lead us with gift of counsel, and thus He will establish us in that perfect mercy of which the divine Master said: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt. 5:7). Here is most prudent counsel of the Holy Spirit: be merciful because “with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged” (Mt. 7:2).

Colloquy

“I run to You, Lord, because of your goodness and mercy, for I know You have not despised the poor nor abhorred sinners. You did not reject thief confessing his fault, nor sinful woman in tears, nor pleading Canaanite, nor woman caught in adultery, nor tax collector at his booth, nor publican imploring mercy, nor Apostle denying You, nor even those crucifying You. Fragrance of your graces draws me.

“I have smelled fragrance of your mercy and come to You to be filled with it. Happy man who, following your examples, has heart full of compassion for miserable. Happy one who is merciful and prompt to help those in need, who deems himself more blessed in giving than receiving, who is ready to forgive and slow to anger, who never takes revenge and in every circumstance considers others’ needs as if his own.

“O Lord, pour into my soul dew of your mercy. Fill my heart with charity so I may become all things to all and be so dead to myself that I live only others’ good. Teach me to distill sweet fragrance of mercy, composed of needs of poor, anguishes of oppressed, anxieties of afflicted, faults of sinners, and finally of all sufferings of those in pain, even if enemies. All these things seem contemptible to my nature, but fragrance drawn from them surpasses all aromas because, as You said, it has power to give us eternal life: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ O Lord, grant that I may pour this fragrance not only on your head and feet but on your whole body, which is Church, so that it may soothe pains of all your suffering members” (cf. St. Bernard).