REPAYING THE LORD

Ps 116/Mt 12:1-8

Do you remember the psalm in the Mass yesterday? If you do, I congratulate you. Quite often we easily forget the psalm prayed or sung in the Mass long before the next reading is read. I have the impression that many people consider the psalm in the Mass as simply an interlude between readings from the scriptures.

But psalms are prayers. In fact, they are song-prayers. They are beautiful and sincere expressions of what really lies deep within the believer. Such is the psalm today.

What a moving prayer the psalm today is! “How can I repay the Lord for His goodness to me?” (Psalm 116). Such a question comes for the heart of every sincere believer. The answer to the question is found in the Gospel however.

Jesus says, “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.” If we want to repay the Lord for His goodness to us, mercy towards others is the answer. Sacrifice is good, but mercy is better. If we are merciful as the Lord is merciful to us, we repay the Lord for His goodness to us.

But mercy is not an easy gift to give. Humans as we are, we often want the other to be worthy of what we give. If not, at least, we want to be assured that the other will value our gift and not just waste it. But if the other is worthy of what we give, will it still be a gift?

In the reign of Alexander the Great, there was a soldier who broke the ranks in the middle of a battle and fled for his own life. Death was the punishment reserved for soldiers who would escape the battlefield. When the fleeing soldier was caught, the verdict was immediately handed down: guilty. The punishment: death by the sword. The mother of the condemned soldier went to Alexander and pleaded.

“Have mercy on my son, Great Emperor,” the mother begged with tears.

“Mercy? But your son does not deserve mercy!” shouted Alexander.

“Yes, Great Emperor,” the mother dared to speak again, “my son does not deserve mercy, for if he does, then it is not mercy at all.”

We are never worthy of the goodness of the Lord, and yet He is good to us all the time. Should we wait till the other is worthy before we show him mercy? Then, we cannot repay the Lord’s goodness to us.

No wonder, we easily forget about the psalm. Or do we choose to?