A Good Measure, Packed Together

A Good Measure, Packed Together

Monday of the Second Week in Lent

Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." Luke 6:36-38

Piety

O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you. But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness! Yet we rebelled against you and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God, to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets."  Deuteronomy 9:8-10

Study

No matter what, you can not say that Sacred Scripture does not provide plenty of warnings and instructions about how merciful we must be. Over the last three days, the Church presented us with readings from Matthew Saturday, Mark Sunday and now Luke.  While Matthew 5 sets the standard as perfection, Luke is slightly more lenient in his choice of goals.  “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

The verb "to be" implies action in the present moment.  Jesus does not say “Aspire to be merciful.”  He says, “Be Merciful.” 

If Hamlet were delivering this soliloquy, he might remark, “To be merciful or not to be merciful, that is the question.”

If Yoda was delivering this instruction to young Jedi, he might teach, “Be merciful or be not merciful. There is no try. There is only BE.” When their training is complete, these Jedi will be more like their teacher. However, that future state does not change the absolute terms of the lesson.

Also, we not only get the absolute terms of this commandment, but we also get a reminder that God is merciful to us because we are God’s children. We want to imitate God because we want to be in a good relationship with Him just like Jesus.

Action

When I was a child, I remember reading on the side of a box a line that said something like, “This product is sold by volume, not by quantity.” I asked my parents what that meant. They explained that sometimes the product in the box settles down and when you open it, it might not appear that the box is full.  You never want to open a box of Cracker Jacks^® and find it half-filled, but that is the lesson of weight, not volume. To make up for the volume issue, we not only get candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, but there is always a prize! A little extra.

When we go shopping, we like the little extra.  At Einstein’s, I enjoy knowing that when I buy a dozen bagels, the box will ALWAYS have 13 when I get home. (And I get to choose what the flavor of that extra bagel is.) A good measure. A little extra.

When I go to dinner at Filomena’s in Georgetown, after the dinner dishes are cleared from the table, while the waiter is getting our orders for coffee and dessert, he brings a carafe of Sambuca (anisette) and another of Amoretto.  You can drink as much or as little as you choose.  No charge.  It is part of the hospitality of the family-style Italian cooking. A little extra. If you ever visit New Orleans, you get the French equivalent of such hospitality under the guise of “lagniappe.” A little extra.

We all like getting a little extra. We prefer getting more than just what we deserve based on the price paid.  That is the mercy of God to the Prodigal daughters and sons of this world.  We get more than we deserve.  How much compassion shall we serve out to those around us? A generous measure and then, a little bit extra.

Maybe we can be more generous in our Welcoming the Stranger?

Monday, February 26 is the National Call-In-Day to Protect Dreamers.

The USCCB announced a National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers. At masses over the past weekend, the Bishops asked the faithful across the nation to call their Members of Congress Monday, February 26.  The purpose of the calls is to ask Members to protect Dreamers from deportation, to provide them a path to citizenship, and to avoid any damage to existing protections for families and unaccompanied minors in the process.

“Our faith compels us to stand with the vulnerable, including our immigrant brothers and sisters.  We have done so continually, but we must show our support and solidarity now in a special way.  Now is the time for action.”

Contact your Members of Congress by calling 855-589-5698 and visit http://bit.ly/2EMztTX  to learn more.

Here is an English-language resource you can use. https://justiceforimmigrants.org/2016site/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Lenten-Action-for-Dreamers-Campaign-English.pdf

Make your Poppa proud as you welcome the stranger!