Into the Heart of Mercy: Endow us with understanding minds…

The goal of a virtuous life is to have a habitual disposition to imitate God’s revealing self in the life and love of Jesus. To become a mindful, merciful person is to pray and seek to learn God’s will for us and strive to act upon it.

Our understanding minds must start with the realization that every gift we have… (each breath) is not our own. We are temporary trustees of these resources, to be shared in mercy and justice with all of our sisters and brothers.

How does the petition “endow us with understanding minds…” apply to our lives?

The mindful disposition to be MERCIFUL was as radical in the culture of the Holy Land in the time of Jesus Christ as it is today in our secular culture. It all starts with a mindful understanding and view of ‘the other’. Are we in competition with ‘the other’, for: influence, power, gratification or resources, or are we in community, to be aware and to provide and share our physical and spiritual resources with the needs of ‘the other’?

As we continue to journey more deeply into the heart of mercy, may even the smallest acts of everyday living express our mindful disposition of mercy.

The Adult Faith Formation and Service Commissions of St. John Parish facilitate our journey into the Heart of Mercy.