It is13th March 2017. The readings are from Daniel 9:4-10; and the Gospel from Luke 6:36-38. The first reading teaches us that we constantly sin yet God is consistently merciful. We all need to learn this divine quality of being merciful at all times no matter how low we have been treated by others. There are times people just dump you because they have their reasons to justify why they should include you and respect you. Even if people become selfish, power hungry, to be at the helm anyway, politicizing the religious decorum and beauty, still we have the power and the goodness to bring the olive branches of compassion and mercy. Someone’s evil must not make us supremely evil, selfish and to lose the privileges of being compassionate and merciful. Since we are treated mercifully by God repeatedly, so we need to display the same quality of our character of being merciful to the others. As Daniel, we need to recognize our sinfulness and submit ourselves to God in humility and confessing all our sins to God through the Church. Without profound confession of our sins, we cannot be merciful. The reconciliation with God is the basis for being merciful. Before settling and tallying the sins of the others, let us balance of our acts before God. God will not treat us according to our sins. In the same manner, we who believe God must not treat the other persons according to their sins. The responsorial Psalm prays, “Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.”(Ps. 102:10). The Gospel directs our minds to be generous in acts of mercy and compassion. “….the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.” (Lk.6:38). Let us not judge others at all. If we are given the seat of judgement on account of our responsibilities, we must exercise the charity by all cost in dispensing our judgements. We must uphold justice at all times in truth and charity. Being merciful does not mean to cover up the evil and sins of the other rather to expose it in a way that benefits the victim and the community we live in. May God help us to be charitably merciful. May you have a peaceful day.