Mercy rather than sacrifice

[ncjohn]

Today’s reading from Micah, especially verses 6-8, is another wonderful reminder of what God is truly looking for from us. It mirrors so many other passages, both old and new testament, yet we continue to miss this primary message just as the Pharisees did in Jesus’s time and others did all through history.

With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

“You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

How often we hear at these forums the statements or implications that it is the FORM of our rituals or prayer that is important. That if we don’t say one of the “prescribed” prayers that our prayer is not adequate. That God prefers that Mass be in latin. Or that some specific prayer isn’t acceptable if it isn’t said in some exact formula of words.

What a bunch of hogwash!

God doesn’t need or want our prayers from obligation. And He quite frankly doesn’t care what form they take! What He wants is US. Our whole selves and our whole being, offered to Him humbly and out of love. There are no “proper” words to express that. There is no “formula.” That is done by the “inexpressable groanings” of the indwelling Holy Spirit, for we don’t truly even know how to love God, much less how to express that.

Yes, Mass is important. Yes, our prayer is important. But only as the expression of our love and gratitude to the most wondrous and awesome God. The imperfect means to the perfect End.

They are not the moon; they are only the finger pointing at the moon. When we start thinking that it is the finger that is important, and start worshipping that finger–the form of our prayer–we are simply indulging ourselves in idolatry. To believe that there are “special” or “secret” words that are required is just another form of gnosticism.

“What I desire is mercy, not sacrifice.” For the One is all merciful, treating each of us far, far better than we could ever deserve. It is the trait we are all most in need of learning if we are to ever hope for peace.

There was a popular bumper sticker around for some time that said “If you desire peace, seek justice.” While it is certainly good to seek fair and just treatment for all, when it comes to God I would say that we each ought to fear justice, for if any of us were to receive from God what we deserve we’d be in BIG trouble. I would personally reword the bumper sticker to say “If you desire peace, practice mercy.”

Father, forgive us for trying to substitute blemished lambs in our offering to you rather than the unblemished lamb you desire–our complete trust in You and mercy toward ALL of Your children.

 

[Ohwesty]

Yes, I agree. I think we can all get too caught up in the externals of everything: big buildings, beautiful architecture and vestments, even the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass itself. We forget that it’s all because of a Person. We forget the Source, we lose our focus.

When we come to the altar with an unforgiving heart, anger, pride, jealousy, greed etc., our participation basically amounts to nothing, in fact, as St. Paul says, we might even eat and drink a judgment upon ourselves.

Another good Scripture passage that relates to this is in the first chapter of Isaiah:

13 Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked. 14 My soul hates your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely, 17 Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

There you go. Mercy over sacrifice.

• Westy

 

[ncjohn]

When we come to the altar with an unforgiving heart, anger, pride, jealousy, greed etc., our participation basically amounts to nothing…

Exactly!

In fact we are told that if we come to the altar and remember that we have a grievance against our brother, that we are to first go and resolve the grievance. Only then are we to return to the altar to offer our sacrifice. For if we come to the One of Mercy, while not showing mercy, our prayer is not true. The parable of the unjust servant makes that very clear.

Yet we have many–and all of us at different times --calling for mercy in our prayer, for ourselves or those we love, while totally failing to practice it ourselves. God’s response is pretty clear on that, as your quote from Isaiah reflected:

And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.

As the beautiful prayer of St.Francis says, “it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”

 

[JimR-OCDS]

John,
exactly!!!

Only a person of prayer, could’ve come up with what you have posted here.



FYI, Jesus told St. Faustina, that the thing that offends Him the most, is that we do not trust in his mercy.

God Bless
Jim

 

[SarahR]

Are you saying that it is ridiculous to follow certain forms (ex: the form of absolution)?

 

[tessi]

For if we come to the One of Mercy, while not showing mercy, our prayer is not true.

Yet, we can not show real mercy if we do not receive it first. As the Pope said about love, you can not give what you don’t have; you have to take God’s love to be able to give it to others.

Sometimes, you cannot easily forgive, but with praying, with sacrifice, you can get to the point when forgiveness comes naturally.

 

[GemmaRose]

John, what a beautiful post! Thank you. Jim is correct - only a person of prayer could have composed such a post.

Sometimes it’s so hard to find the balance between laws and regulations - which are necessary to prevent chaos and error - and the true worship that the Lord desires.

How true it is when you say, “And He quite frankly doesn’t care what form they take! What He wants is US. Our whole selves and our whole being, offered to Him humbly and out of love. There are no ‘proper’ words to express that. There is no ‘formula.’ That is done by the ‘inexpressable groanings’ of the indwelling Holy Spirit, for we don’t truly even know how to love God, much less how to express that.”

All He’s ever wanted is US. . . Does anyone believe that He cared about from which tree Adam and Eve ate? No, He wanted their hearts to love Him above everything else: their temptation, their curiosity, their desire for knowledge which they thought they didn’t have. . . everything.

Did He want Isaac dead? No. He wanted Abraham’s heart.

When you hear some people complain that all of humanity got a raw deal because Adam and Eve ate an apple, it would make me laugh if it wasn’t so sad. I mean, what really was the sin? The sin was an ingratitude that broke the Heart of God. Why else would Jesus have to die a Death of Love but to return the love which was due to the Father by His ungrateful children.

When I read posts such as you describe. . .

How often we hear at these forums the statements or implications that it is the FORM of our rituals or prayer that is important. That if we don’t say one of the “prescribed” prayers that our prayer is not adequate. That God prefers that Mass be in latin. Or that some specific prayer isn’t acceptable if it isn’t said in some exact formula of words.

. . . it frightens me because I fear that those who think that way are just like the Pharisees: they know all the rules, but do not know the heart, they don’t know His Heart.

They may truly love and worship Him, but may not understand that He wants to love and cherish them, us - as filthy and stained and sinful as we are, no matter how little we deserve it, all He wants is to love us, and for us to love Him in return.

That’s all He really wants. . .

When we love Him with all our hearts, and allow Him to love us - that’s when we come to the point where we can write posts such as yours.

 

[ncjohn]

Are you saying that it is ridiculous to follow certain forms (ex: the form of absolution)?

Of course not Sarah. Those forms provide a sense of security and identity. We know what they mean and what to expect from them.

When people start to beat each other over the head over specific form though, that is neither love nor mercy. And when we start to think that it’s only the specific form of the words that God hears, we have a definite problem of understanding.

 

[ncjohn]

Yet, we can not show real mercy if we do not receive it first. As the Pope said about love, you can not give what you don’t have; you have to take God’s love to be able to give it to others.

Sometimes, you cannot easily forgive, but with praying, with sacrifice, you can get to the point when forgiveness comes naturally.

Good point tessi. We have a lot of wounded sheep out there who have never seen true love or mercy in action. I was one of those myself for longer than I care to remember. I had no way to identify with the concept of God as loving and merciful father as I had never experienced any such thing.

Yet somehow I was given enough grace to forgive my own father, just a few months before he died totally unexpectedly. It started as mere words that even I didn’t believe when I said them, but over time became a reality that brought me great peace in knowing we were reconciled before he died.

I am probably only able to say some of the things I do now because I was shown great mercy, even if it was later in life when that happened. Without that having been shown to me I likely would be a very bitter person now.

 

[tessi]

When we **love Him **with all our hearts, and allow Him to love us - that’s when we come to the point where we can write posts such as yours.

To love God is a very abstract concept, that is why He gave us the ten Commandments. It sounds so nice to say “I love God”, but you need rules to do that because anyone can interpret love in a million different ways.
I guess we all know many people who do whatever they want with their lives and say “I love God”.

 

[Joysong]

Tessi:

To love God is a very abstract concept, that is why He gave us the ten Commandments. It sounds so nice to say “I love God”, but you need rules to do that because anyone can interpret love in a million different ways.

I think John is trying to say that when we get the heart right, the rule-keeping flows as our response to God’s deep love and mercy toward us. Keeping rules by rote does not always engender love, but rather a sense of pride at times, thinking that “I’m beloved of God because I keep rules.”

 

[ncjohn]

Thank you for your kind words GemmaRose–and also Jim!

I think you make an important point here:

Sometimes it’s so hard to find the balance between laws and regulations - which are necessary to prevent chaos and error - and the true worship that the Lord desires.

We do indeed need the laws and regulations to keep us civilized and to teach us boundaries early on. But it is critically important to not confuse that with religion’s primary, and really only, purpose: to bring people to God.

God has always gone to great lengths to show us His love and commitment to His covenant, even when we have disregarded it and gone our own way. Yet we hear a great deal about the “thou shalt nots” and precious little about the beatitudes.

It all seems to result, regardless of what we say we believe, in a religion where we think that we really do earn our way into heaven. Whether it’s by keeping commandments, securing indulgences , saying the right prayers, or putting the right amount in the collection basket, the emphasis always seems to be on what WE do rather than what God is doing.

I’m not against form. How people express their love to God is very personal. Some are called to very structured prayer and can feel great comfort and communion through it. Others find that in simple silence and presence. Others may sing or dance before God. There just isn’t “one right way” to the exclusion of any other. God hears our humble hearts and our desire to be one with Him, whatever form that takes.

Peace,

 

[JimR-OCDS]

And Jesus gave us two commandments to follow, which are the sum of all the rest;

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:30-31

And my favorite quote from the “Cloud of Unknowing,”

“God can not be grasped, except through love.”

Without love for neighbor, you can not know God, because it is through love that God is revealed, both to our neighbors and to ourselves.

Jim

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Excellent and important reflection, John. Thank you:thumbsup: …and some excellent posts from members to follow up too…
Quoting John:

It all seems to result, regardless of what we say we believe, in a religion where we think that we really do earn our way into heaven. Whether it’s by keeping commandments, securing indulgences , saying the right prayers, or putting the right amount in the collection basket, the emphasis always seems to be on what WE do rather than what God is doing.

I’m not against form. How people express their love to God is very personal. Some are called to very structured prayer and can feel great comfort and communion through it. Others find that in simple silence and presence. Others may sing or dance before God. There just isn’t “one right way” to the exclusion of any other. God hears our humble hearts and our desire to be one with Him, whatever form that takes.

… …

 

[MarieVeronica]

God is so merciful, with sinners. With the weak. I am grateful. Because, IF He was “exacting”… in matters of prayer, type… number… scheduling… etc. with my life and responsibilities? I’d be TOAST! lol.

 

[ncjohn]

Very true MarieVeronica…for ALL of us.

I think that idea is why I’ve always been so drawn to this prayer from Thomas Merton. To me it so completely expresses that our faith must provide the hope that God will indeed do what He says He will do, even though we have no real way of knowing this to be true.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

• Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”

"But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. "

This to me is the key. I will fail…sometimes through just not knowing which path is really the right one. But in the end I can only trust that it isn’t really the path that was important, but my desire to please Him.

Peace,

 

[brigid12]

There are so many people that have posted such wonderful things. His Mercy is even more complete than His Justice which is already complete - but in order for us to know that we have really received His Mercy we need to know that we are doing all in our little power (not much, huh?) including following the rules/regulations set down for us by the person to whom He gave the Keys of the Kingdom and we also try to follow role models (canonized Saints) since both help us to get beyond our concupiscience (sp?). We are so little and our bodies are so connected to our souls (and wills) that we also need to bend our bodies/make gestures, etc. just to help show that we truly love Him. Humans are so little and He is so Great!

 

[BarbaraTherese]

To me, God’s Mercy flows from His Justice, because God is Just, He is Merciful - He knows and understands with Compassionate Love that very often our sinful nature in which we are conceived whether we like it or not - beyond our control - is more powerful than our will and desire to obey His Will though Graced to do so…and hence in His Justice, has a disposition of Mercy with Love and Understanding…
Psalm 50
*

6

To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged. 7 For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.*

Too often I think, God’s Justice is portrayed as something fearful and vengeaful, not something to be praised and thankful for with great joy and peace of soul.

Blessings…Barb

 

[Ohwesty]

Mercy and justice are flip sides of the same coin. Both flow from God’s goodness. We trust in God’s mercy now. This is the age of mercy, as Jesus told St. Faustina, and as it states in the scriptures over again. Justice is reserved for the last day. For the night cometh, when no man can work (Jn 9:4).

Brigid12, you said:

We are so little and our bodies are so connected to our souls (and wills) that we also need to bend our bodies/make gestures, etc. just to help show that we truly love Him. Humans are so little and He is so Great.

You are absolutely correct! Our bodily gestures, especially during worship, are outward expressions of what should be happening within us.

On a related topic: fear of the Lord and love of the Lord go hand-in-hand. They, too, are flip sides of the same coin. The Scriptures say the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7). It is both fear and love that motivate us to do the right things. But love is the perfect motive. The more we grow in grace, the more we approach God with reverence, trembling and awe. Likewise, the more we grow in grace, the more we enjoy the tender embrace of the One whom Jesus taught us to call “Father.” Even St. Faustina said, when she saw Our Lord, “I was filled with both fear and joy.”

• Westy

 

[ncjohn]

Too often I think, God’s Justice is portrayed as something fearful and vengeaful, not something to be praised and thankful for with great joy and peace of soul.

Exactly Barb.

Who would come to love a God they see as vengeful and fearful? Who would love a God they think is playing “Gotcha” with them?

I just don’t buy the idea that love springs from fear. Love springs from gratitude and awe. When “fear of the Lord” is understood in its proper context of being in awe of God, I will totally agree that it is the beginning of wisdom. When someone begins to be afraid of God though, there is a disaster just waiting to happen as despair will be hiding right around the corner.

I taught my children, as i will help teach their children, that there is nothing they can do or say that should ever make them afraid to approach God; that there is nothing they cannot be forgiven. And I have tried my best to model that for them in a human way, that they might never fear going to someone they have hurt to apologize, fearing rejection of their honest contrition. I don’t ever want my kids or grandchildren losing hope, as I did for so many years, that they can ever be loved by or worthy to God. I already know far too many who are fully convinced that God will never forgive them for something, and that they are condemned to hell, because of a bunch of BS that they were fed somewhere along the way by the “righteous” about a vengeful God.

It’s so sad to see the number of people who can quote a couple verses out of context while ignoring the entire message of Jesus, who reiterated the constant message of the prophets:

“What I desire is mercy, not sacrifice.”