Caput VII. De misericordia
The Blessed Exchange of Mercy
Mercy is the supreme good, and those who forgive temporal debts and show mercy to others open themselves to receive God's eternal mercy.
Mercy is a supreme good, as the Savior himself says: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy" (Matt.✦ 5, 7). A sinner who shows no mercy to those who sin against him can't hope for mercy from God. So let a person release a temporal debt in order to deserve receiving an eternal good. If we long to have our souls cleansed from the filth of sins, let us not withhold mercy from those who sin against us, so that on the day of recompense we may be helped by works of mercy to deserve God's mercy. How can someone who is cruel to their own companions expect mercy from God? Just as you want God to show you mercy, so too show mercy to those who owe you. Most certainly, the one who knows how to forgive others can expect forgiveness.
Mercy Modeled on the Father
Christ commands us to be merciful as the heavenly Father is merciful, and those who show mercy offer God an acceptable sacrifice of salvation.
The Lord strengthened us with the best example for the work of mercy in the Gospel, where he says: "Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful."✦ He makes his sun rise on the good and the evil, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Luke✦ 6:36). All mercy will make room for each person according to the merit of their works. Whoever shows mercy offers God an acceptable sacrifice of salvation.
Mercy and Discipline in Right Order
True mercy in authority must be joined with discipline, lest mercy alone encourage sin or discipline alone drive the offender to despair.
A judge must have both mercy and discipline, because one cannot truly exist without the other. For if there is mercy alone, it creates a false sense of security for those under authority to keep sinning. On the other hand, if discipline alone is always present, the mind of the offender turns to despair, and the judge will not earn mercy from God; but a person must begin this mercy with himself.
Beginning Mercy with Oneself
One who is cruel to himself through sin cannot truly be merciful to others; the truly merciful person begins by watching over his own soul so as not to be condemned.
How can someone be merciful toward others when he's cruel to himself? He's cruel to himself who, through his own sins, is preparing everlasting flames for himself. Truly merciful is the one who begins with himself and watches carefully over himself, so that he may not be punished along with the devil, and who then offers to others what he sees would be good for himself.
Read the original Latin
Praecipuum est misericordiae bonum, de qua ipse Salvator ait: Beati misericordes, quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur (Matth. V, 7). Non potest peccator a Deo misericordiam sperare, qui misericordiam non facit peccantibus in se. Ergo dimittat homo temporale debitum, ut mereatur recipere aeternale bonum. Si animas nostras cupimus peccatorum sordibus emundari, misericordiam in nos peccantibus non negemus, ut in die retributionis ad promerendam Dei misericordiam misericordiae operibus adjuvemur. Quomodo a Deo misericordiam exspectat, qui crudelis est in conservos suos? Sicut quis cupit Deum sibi misereri, ita et misereatur debitoribus suis. Certissime indulgentiam exspectare poterit, qui aliis indulgere novit.
Ad misericordiae opus optimo nos in Evangelio Dominus exemplo roboravit, ubi ait: Estote misericordes, sicut et Pater vester coelestis misericors est. Qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos (Luc. VI, 36). Omnis misericordia faciet locum unicuique secundum meritum operum suorum. Qui facit misericordiam, Deo offert sacrificium salutis placabile. In judice misericordia et disciplina debet esse: quia una sine altera bene esse non possit. Nam misericordia sola si fuerit, securitatem facit peccandi subjectis. Iterum, si disciplina sola semper aderit, vertitur animus delinquentis in desperationem, et judex non merebitur a Deo misericordiam: sed hanc misericordiam a seipso debet homo incipere.
Quomodo in aliis est misericors, qui in seipso crudelis est? In seipso crudelis est, qui sibi perpetuas peccatis suis parat flammas. Bene misericors est, qui a seipso incipit, et se diligenter custodit, ne puniatur cum diabolo, et sic aliis praestet, quod sibi bonum esse perspicit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.5.7 — Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- ↩Luke.6.36 — Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
- ↩Matt.5.45 — so that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
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