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"IT IS MERCY I DESIRE AND NOT SACRIFICE" (Matt: 9:13)
THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE LAY CISTERCIANS
(Clairvaux, France - June 5, 2005)
The message that the Lord has prepared for us on this Sunday is
well defined and precise. The Good News which is proclaimed to us here today is:
"It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice." (Matt: 9: 13)
The Pharisees criticized Jesus because He has shown Himself as merciful and
shown mercy towards those who collaborated with the oppressors (the publicans)
and towards the immoral and those who are willing to be dishonest because of
their work (the sinners). Jesus recalls the words of the Prophet Hosea, "I
desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt
offerings" (Hosea 6:6). Love is also given authority by Jesus in relation to
shriveled-up ritualism or narrow rigorous "observance." In its place the Savior
gives a radical and revolutionary teaching; in a world where Cult was placed at
the highest level of values, Jesus inverts the order and affirms the absolute
supremacy of merciful love.
We cannot think that this is an isolated word of the Master. We
find the same words at the heart of His program and His teaching: "Blessed are
the merciful for they will receive mercy" (Matt. 5: 7); "...the weightier
matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. " (Matt. 23: 23); "Be merciful
just as your Father is merciful. "(Luke 6: 36).
These affirmations are illustrated by the comparisons or by the parables He
uses. There is the Prodigal Son (Luke 15); there is the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:
29-37); there is the banquet of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-30);
there is the heartless servant (Matt. 18: 23-35); and the scene of the final
judgment (Matt. 31: 31-46). The witness of His own life and the choices that
Jesus made support this teaching.
We cannot be surprised if the authentic monastic tradition -
that which always puts the Gospel above the traditions and persons before
institutions -councils: "Never lose hope in God's mercy" (Rule of St. Benedict
4, 74) and "that the Abbot must always let mercy triumph over judgment so that
he too may win mercy" (RB 64, 10).
Love and mercy have a central place in Cistercian Spirituality.
Bernard of Clairvaux is a qualified witness of this truth. The love from the
depths of our being between the brothers is the same as the heart of the
cenobitique communion. Mercy summarizes the many manifestations of love for the
neighbor. This particular from of love, which takes root in the depths of one's
being, is affective and effective, and gathers into itself the emotion and the
deed. Merciful love implies:
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Desire the good of your neighbor: selflessness.
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Do good and share the good things with your neighbor:
charity, service, solidarity.
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To experience good and to do the good: graciousness,
compassion, gentleness, affability, meekness and friendliness.
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To present him good and to be good with others:
thoughtfulness, friendliness.
From the other side, St. Bernard also teaches: they discover to commiserate
with the neediness of their neighbor in the measure that they have accepted
their own neediness. (The Degrees of Humility, 6) That is to say that being
merciful with oneself is a positive way of self-knowledge together with
self-acceptance. These two realities are found at the base both of our life
in the Spirit and of all solidly founded spirituality.
The importance the Cistercians give to the merciful love can be clearly seen
in this impressive remark of Bernard: "We are transformed because we are conformed ... you are merciful as your
Father is merciful. Such is the beauty that the Spouse desires to see in the
features of his bride, when he says to the Church: Show me your face.
(Sermon on the Canticle, 62,5).
Mercy is a love from the depths of your being; we can say in a sense that
the Mercy of God is the feminine manifestation of His Divine Love."
Let us unite our voices to those of all the Cistercians, monks and nuns,
lay-men and laywomen, who inspired by the Spirit, sing each day: Hail Mary,
Queen and Mother of Mercy, our Life, our sweetness and our Hope, we greet
you!
Bernardo Olivera
Clairvaux, June 5, 2005
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