'Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy''.

 The Fifth Beatitude: Blessed are the merciful,…

     A merciful person is a person who does God’s will in response to His love. Jesus showed His kindness, compassion, respect and tenderness to all people… He gave each person the love of the Father. In this same way, a person who in his life follows Jesus and does His will is a person who is merciful to his neighbour.

     A merciful person is one who, out of his spiritual relationship with Jesus, performs acts of love, by feeding the hungry, giving to drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and visiting the imprisoned. Furthermore, a merciful person, amongst others, also teaches the ignorant, counsels the doubtful, forgives offences and comforts the afflicted.

     A merciful person sees life not just from a human perspective; he sees life through the eyes of Jesus. By being merciful, such a person approaches each day by living experiences and relationships with others with the aim of giving them Christ.

          To be merciful is a challenge for us. How many times in our lives have we met a hungry or thirsty person, a homeless person…? Have we been merciful to them? Have we given them to eat and drink? If we were hungry and thirsty or homeless ourselves, would we not want someone to give us to eat, to drink and to provide us with shelter?

     We are to be a merciful people.

…for they will be shown mercy.

     Acting in a merciful way will bring joy, peace and hope to those receiving these merciful acts of love. Furthermore, the merciful person will himself be shown mercy. When judgement day will come for these merciful persons, as it is written in Matthew 25:34-36, Christ will say to them:

….. ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

     This is what Jesus will show to merciful persons… the Kingdom of Heaven. Be a merciful person and the Kingdom of heaven is yours.

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