A Lesson on Mercy

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
–Luke 6:36 

I have to admit, we sometimes get a lot of attention with the “Mercy Mobile”—our van with pictures of Divine Mercy on the side and rear panels (behind our son Jonathan in the picture).

This week we are near Charleston, SC for CJ to attend a driving school that some dear friends of ours own, and to take some time to discern where our next post will be. The night we arrived, a man approached our vehicle telling us he felt safe to share his story because of Jesus on our car. We ended up taking him to a laundromat—which he was overjoyed about. We prayed with him, and he asked to go to church with us on Sunday, seeing how God took care of him at this time in a special way.

On Sunday, we picked him up, took him to Mass with us, went out for lunch, and then took him to get some personal items that we knew he needed. He was extremely happy, grateful, and even giddy.

We dropped him off, feeling pretty good that he was loved. Later that evening we got a phone call. It was him requesting more from us, with more stories behind the whys, and even what seemed like blatant lies.

I was angry and resentful, counting the ways this man “duped” us.

Not my husband, Chris, though. He didn’t feel that way at all. Although he was hurt, he loved this guy anyway, praying for him to be protected and to choose integrity. Then Chris started to comfort me, telling me that it was a great day anyway. Even though it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, we got to see how moved he was to go to Mass with us and the peace he got from it, how touched he was at lunch meeting our beautiful friends, and how giddy he was at the store buying deodorant. We loved this man like Christ, and we still love him now by praying for him.

It was another lesson of mercy. If I think about it, how many times do I call on God just to get what I want? And he still loves me just like Chris loves this guy.

After sharing what happened with my friend, she reassured me that this man will always go through life, knowing how much he was loved by a family who didn’t even know him. And every time he puts on that deodorant, he will think of where it came from—out of love.

Soften our hearts, Lord, especially mine.