Daily Catholic Lectio. Sat, 2 Mar 2024. With compassion

Daily Catholic Lectio

Sat, 2 March 2024

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32.

With compassion

Choosing between two good things is a difficult choice to make. It is indeed difficult to choose between mercy and justice.

In the gospel reading, we have a very familiar text, the parable of the prodigal son, or the lost son(s). The younger son leaves home. The father of the house waits for him, while the elder son concludes that he will never return. But the lost son returns.

The text reads that the father ran towards the younger son, and with compassion, he embraced him.

Mercy and justice travel in two opposite directions. Mercy travels towards the future, while justice travels towards the past.

The father’s heart is moved with mercy, for he sees in his lost son a new possibility for growth.

The elder son’s heart is pulled back by justice, for he sees in his lost son the unredeemed past.

Mercy asks the question, ‘What’s next?’

Justice asks the question, ‘What about the earlier one?’

The father of the house exhorts the elder son to set aside justice for a while.

In the first reading, Prophet Micah seeks God’s mercy. Though God condemned the people of Israel on account of his justice, he redeemed them through his mercy.

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The synodal church will find it difficult to draw a line between mercy and justice, and it will have to decide in each case between love and truth. Based on the fluidity of our definition, we can be more inclusive and diverse. (Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 44)

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy