The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 315: The Virtue of Mercy (2023)

Episode Date: November 11, 2023

In light of a series of miracles in our readings for today, Fr. Mike focuses on our Lord’s compassion and our call to be merciful, as he is. He emphasizes the beauty of God’s mercy and his offering of it despite our unworthiness. He also strikes a balance between the goodness of humanity as God’s creation and our brokenness due to original sin. Today’s readings are Luke 6-8 and Proverbs 26:1-3. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 315. Oh my gosh, what a great gift. We're reading Luke chapter 6, 7, and 8.

We're also reading Proverbs chapter 26, verses 1 through 3. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on daily, oh, clicking on subscribes, subscribing, subscribes. You can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on daily, oh, clicking on subscribes, subscribing, subscribes. You can subscribe to this podcast. It's a wonderful thing. You don't have to do it. Do what you want. Anyways, we're reading Luke chapter six, seven, and eight. It's day 315, and we're reading Proverbs chapter 26, verses one through three.

The Gospel According to Luke, chapter 6, a teaching about the Sabbath. On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? And Jesus answered, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him? And he said to them, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

The Man with the Withered Hand On another Sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered, and the scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, come and stand here. And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it? And he looked around on them all and said to him, Stretch out your hand.

And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and disgust with one another what they might do to Jesus. Jesus chooses the twelve disciples. In these days he went out to the hills to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve whom he named apostles, Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Is Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the zealot,

and Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Jesus teaches and heals. And he came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice on that day, and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. Love for enemies. But I say to you that here, love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you, and of him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone

who begs from you, and of him who takes away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. He also told them a parable.

Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully taught, will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. A tree and its fruit. For no good tree bears bad fruit,

nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good, and the evil man, out of the evil treasure, produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Hearers and Doers Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them,

I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation upon rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built. But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the stream broke and immediately it fell.

And the ruin of that house was great. Chapter 7. Jesus Heals a Centurion's Slave After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. When he heard of Jesus, he sent him to elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue. And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore, I did

not presume to come to you, but say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my slave, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he marveled at him, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he marveled at him and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well. Jesus raises a widow's son at Nain. Soon afterward, he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. And he came and touched the bier beer and the bearers stood still.

And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all. And they glorified God saying, a great prophet has arisen among us. And God has visited his people. And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. Messengers from John the Baptist. The disciples of John told him of all these things. And John,

calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another? And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another? In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, Go, and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,

the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me. When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? John had gone, he began to, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When they heard all this, the people and the tax collectors justified God having been baptized with the baptism of John. But, the people and the tax collectors justified God having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for

themselves, not having been baptized by him. To what then shall I compare the men of this generation? And what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, we piped for you and you did did not dance. We wailed, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, He has a demon. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.

A sinful woman forgiven. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat at table. And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him,

Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, What is it, teacher? A certain creditor had two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now, which of them will love him more? Simon answered, The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house.

You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven,

for she loved much, but he who is forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, given. Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Chapter 8. Some Women Accompany Jesus. Soon afterward, he went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their means. The Parable of the Sower And when a great crowd came together, and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, A sower went out to sow his seed.

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path and was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. As he said this, he called out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. The explanation of the parable. And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,

he said, to you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others, they are in parables so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now, the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard,

then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who hearing the word,

hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bring forth fruit with patience. A lamp is not hidden. No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that shall not be made manifest

nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. Take heed then how you hear. The true kindred of Jesus. Then his mother and his brethren came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd. And he was told, Your mother and your brethren are standing outside desiring to see you. But he said to them, My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it. Jesus calms a storm on the sea. One day he got into a boat with his disciples and he said to them, Let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out, and as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a storm of wind came down on the lake and they were filling with water and were in danger.

And they went and woke him saying, master, master, we are perishing. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves and they ceased and there was a calm. He said to them, where is your faith? And they were afraid and there was a calm. He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even wind and water, and they obey him? Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac.

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And as he stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes and he lived not in a house, but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God?

I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert. Jesus then asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion.

For many demons had entered him, and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened,

they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged him that he might be with him. But he sent him away, saying, Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away,

proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. A girl restored to life, and a woman healed. Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, and falling at Jesus' feet, he begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As he went, the people pressed around him, and a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had spent all her living

upon physicians, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her flow of blood ceased. And Jesus said, Who was it that touched me? When all denied it, Peter said, Master, the multitudes surround you and press upon you. But Jesus said, Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone forth from me. And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. While he was still speaking, a man from the ruler's

house came and said, Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher anymore. But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not fear. Only believe, and she shall be well. And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and bewailing her, but he said, Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand, he called, saying, Child, arise. And her spirit

returned, and she got up at once, and he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. The Book of Proverbs, chapter 26, verses 1 through 3. Like snow in summer, or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. Father in heaven, we give you praise. And thank you. Thank you for this day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for continuing to call us back to yourself so that we can not only hear your word,

but also see your word, your word made flesh in action. Lord God, as we hear the description of how your son, Jesus Christ, has lived and walked among us, we see your heart, your Christ, has lived and walked among us. We see your heart, your heart for those who are forgotten, your heart for those who are neglected, your heart for those who even are enemies. And God, we know how often we've made ourselves your enemy. And what we see is we see your love. We see you commanding us to love our enemies because

when we were your enemies, you loved us. When we had rebelled against you, you died for us. You gave your life for us. Help us to live our lives for you this day and every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Gosh, I might have mentioned this yesterday. One of the problems with going through all four G gospels is I can't remember what I highlighted in the previous three. Also, there's so much action. We go through three chapters today and every one of these chapters has so much, they are what they call action-packed. And so here we are.

But I wanna highlight this. We had in Matthew's gospel, we had the Sermon on the Mount. This is in Luke's gospel, what's called the Sermon on the Plain. It's very, very similar to the Sermon on the Mount. It's kind of an abbreviated form of what Jesus must have preached multiple times, right? He must have taught this wherever he went, the beatitudes, right, the blessings and woes. There's something about this and also

about the teaching of love for enemies. You know, when Jesus teaches about love for enemies, he is asking us to do something that is radically different. Now, in our day and age, mercy is a virtue, right? In our day and age, we recognize that we've been so shaped for the last 2,000 years by Christianity that we recognize that graciousness, we recognize that mercy are virtues. They're things that can be a virtue of honor, some kind of behavior that's worth praising. And yet, mercy was not until Christianity. Mercy was not considered to be a virtue of honor, some kind of behavior that's worth praising. And yet,

mercy was not, until Christianity, mercy was not considered to be a virtue. It was considered to be a weakness. Why would you? Why would you ever allow someone to do something evil and let them get away with it? Why would you ever forgive someone? Why would you take those who were actually your enemies and pray for them? Why would you love them? That doesn't make any sense. And it's true. It doesn't make any sense unless there's a higher law than justice. I've talked about this so many times. In the Old Testament, one of the things that God reveals is that he is a God of justice. So that, yes, we need to pay back what we owe and that we are owed what other people need to pay us back with. And there's even a higher call. In the midst of justice, this higher call is mercy. And mercy is very interesting.

You know, the Latin word for mercy is misericordia. Misericordia, right? That's the word. That is where love meets our need. That is where love meets us in our misery. That misericordia, right? The misery. When, you know, we've said this before, I will

say it a thousand times again, is that mercy is the love that we do not deserve. Mercy is love when we need to be loved the most and we deserve to be loved the least. So even you have this story of the centurion, right? And he is in the village and he has a slave who needs healing and the people come to Jesus and they say, he's worthy for you to do this because, you know, he loves our people. He built us a synagogue. And yet the man, the centurion, he knows his state. He knows the truth about himself.

And he actually says, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come and enter under my roof. You know, on one side, the people are saying that, oh, the centurion is worthy. But the centurion, he knows his own heart and and he knows, actually, the truth is, I'm not. I'm not worthy. And this is an echo we have of John the Baptist, right? Yesterday, when we read the story of the baptism of Jesus, John the Baptist himself said this, I'm not worthy that he should untie the thongs of my sandals.

You know, our world would say, no, no, no, John, come on, you know, don't get down on yourself, or no, hey, centurion, don't get down on yourself. You are worthy. And the centurion and John, they know the truth. The truth is I'm not, I'm not worthy of this love. I'm not worthy of this gift. I'm not worthy of this mercy, but I need it. I need it. And that's every single one of us. God, I'm not worthy of your mercy, but I need it. And so because God is so good, he gives us what we need. And that's amazing. Isn't that incredible?

You know, we have to keep that in balance, right? That balance those things that we know in tension, because it is very easy for so many of us, so many of us to forget the worth we have in our Lord, the worth we have just because we're made in God's image and likeness, the worth he bestows upon us by his grace, and we can focus on our sin, our brokenness. And so we can forget our goodness because we're focused on our brokenness. On the other hand, we can be so focused on our goodness that we forget our brokenness. And so there's that fine line that we're called to walk. It's able to say, Lord, I'm good in the fact that you have made me and you make things good. Ontologically is the fancy word. Ontologically, I'm good. Morally, I am not. And that I have been made into your beloved creature, or even I've been baptized,

I've been made into your son or daughter, but I don't always live like that. So yes, you've called me to great heights, but I've not yet risen to those heights. I've not lived up to that gift you've given me. It's interesting but I've not yet risen to those heights. You know, I've not lived up to that gift you've given me. You know, it's interesting because I'm not sure if I mentioned this before. As I said, Jesus saying about John the Baptist, he says he's a prophet. And not only is he a prophet, but he goes on to say in verse 28 of chapter 7, I tell you, among those born of women, there is none greater than John. Yet he was least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

And which is really interesting to think, like, what does that mean? None born of woman is greater than he. And it's just really interesting to think, like, what does that mean? None born of woman is greater than John. Yet those who are least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Have I mentioned this before? How could Jesus say this? Well, he could say this for a number of reasons, but here's my interpretation. John the Baptist was not baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John the Baptist wasn't given the gift of being adopted by the Father. He was

given many gifts. Again, the greatest prophet, no one greater. I mean, you guys, we know all the prophets. You know all the prophets by now. You know how great they were. You know how incredible they were. Here's John, who's the greatest. And yet, the gift given to you and to me in our baptism, where God makes us into his beloved sons and daughters. He adopts us as his beloved sons and daughters. As we said yesterday, that God speaks over you and says, you are my beloved son. You're my beloved daughter. With you, I'm well pleased. That gift means that you have been raised greater than John the Baptist, higher than John the Baptist. Not because you and I are more virtuous than him, but because the grace

of God resides in you. The Holy Spirit abides in you. As St. Peter says later on in the New Testament, he says, you've been made partakers of the divine nature. In your baptism, you're made partakers of the divine nature, meaning you share the very nature of God with him. He shares it with us. meaning you share the very nature of God with him. He shares it with us. Incredible, incredible. And this is part of the call to, how do I live up to that, God?

On my own, I cannot. On my own, I cannot. But with you, all things are possible. And so one of the things we do is we continue to pray and ask God for help to help us to live up to this call, help us to live up to what he's given us, help us to live up to our baptism. And we need God's grace to help us to live up to this call, help us to live up to what he's given us, help us to live up to our baptism. And we need God's grace to be able to do this.

Ah, man, what a day, an incredible gift. My name's Father Mike. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. I said that backwards. I am praying for you. I really am. Please pray for me.

My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.