I attended my annual priest retreat this past week. Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas was the director. He told this story. He said that when he was a boy, he and some of his friends caused some trouble in the neighborhood. One mom told another mom and it finally got back to his mom. That night, his mom and dad sat him down for a talk. His dad told him that his behavior had embarrassed the whole family in front of the whole neighborhood. His dad and mom told him that they were very disappointed by what he did. The bishop said that he felt awful that he was caught, that everyone knew and that his parents were embarrassed by what he did. Two weeks later, his dad gave him a new bicycle.
He said that he didn’t think his dad was trying to make a deep theological point. He thinks his dad just loved him. But he felt deeply moved by the undeserved gift and he knew he really didn’t deserve the new bike. He thought that was his earliest experience of mercy.
Today in the scripture Jesus heals ten lepers. They didn’t ask to be healed, instead they asked for mercy. Jesus responded by healing them. Out of the ten, only one returned to thank him. The man’s body had been healed and inside the man, something else had been healed. We know that because he experienced the need to thank God while the other nine lepers did not.
In the first reading, Naaman the Syrian was healed because he did what the prophet Elijah told him to do, namely, bathing in the Jordan river. Naaman tried to pay Elijah, but his payment was refused. God’s mercy is free. Naaman instead comes to faith in the Father of Mercy.
Pope Francis has proclaimed this year as the Year of Mercy. He said that people who are merciless have “spiritual Alzheimer’s disease.” We learn mercy by reflecting on the times when we receive mercy in our own life. When we reflect on the good things God gives us in our lives, it is easier to be merciful with others. Mercy is not about being nice, but is showing love to other people in concrete ways.
That is part of the reason that I liked the story that Bishop Sis told at our retreat. He told us to take some time to meditate on our own experience of mercy from others. Then, go and do likewise.