The Ministry of Jesus Christ:

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." - Matthew 5:7

Mercy is the virtue of charity as applied to those who are in distress or trouble. It is the reflection of the love of God for perishing sinners. It is that quality the exercise of which towards ourselves is our greatest need. Without the mercy of God we are lost. Without His mercy we can never free ourselves from sin. Without His mercy we can never hope to see His Face in Heaven. The note of our every prayer should be, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" It is only thus we can hope to be forgiven.

To obtain mercy, then, must be the aim of our life. How are we to do so? Christ, the King of Mercy, teaches us the way. We must show mercy to others if we are to find mercy ourselves. It will be in vain for us to cry for mercy, if, when others cried to us in their distress, we turned a deaf ear. Am I thus merciful to others, not from a natural motive, but because I wish to follow in the steps of the merciful and loving Saviour? Or am I severe and hard to my fellow-sinners?

What are the methods by which we may show mercy?

1) By mercy to the poor. Daniel tells Nabuchodonosor, "Redeem thy sins by alms-deeds, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor."

2) By tenderness and gentleness to the sick and those in trouble.

3) By forgiving those who have wronged me, as I hope to be for given.

Are these my characteristics?

- taken from The Ministry of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations on the Public Life of Our Lord, by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ