The Lord’s gift to us is His peace. It is part and parcel of the very nature of God as the Divine Mercy. This weekend, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday as we conclude the Easter Octave. Mercy has become quite the catchphrase in this Jubilee Year of Mercy.

What is mercy? Mercy is the ability to see all with the eyes of Christ. It is recognizing all of us are creatures in the loving hand of the creator; it is recognizing the need in each and every one of us for the loving embrace of God. In Hebrew, a word that corresponds to mercy is hesed, God’s loving kindness, His faithfulness. It is part of God’s very nature and it is the foundation of the covenant.

When we show mercy to others, we participate in the very life of God. Seeing with the eyes of mercy means to give practical assistance to all those in need.

The Lord’s gift is peace. It is mercy, divine mercy. How can we show mercy to all those whom we encounter? How can we, each in our own vocations, clergy, religious, laity, and states in life, clerical, consecrated, married or single, be the mercy of God in the misery of mankind?

We can start by examining ourselves, freeing ourselves from any and all grudges, past hurts, and resentments. This is not an easy process and, indeed, might not even be possible. Can we recognize that we have been hurt by others, and that hurt, which we can carry around with us for years, unless we let it go, addressing it if we can with the ones who have hurt us, if possible, or at least acknowledging it to ourselves when it cannot be possible?

Can we acknowledge that we have hurt others, most of the time inadvertently perhaps, but we have caused hurt nonetheless, and deal with the fact that we need mercy and forgiveness too.

Continue to take those short, careful steps, practically seeing Christ and then being Christ to one another. This is the way of mercy.