Our Gospel reading today is a continuation of last Sunday’s reading. You recall that in the beatitudes Our Lord invites us to tread the path that He became for us, and through His own example we are strengthened and encouraged to live as He did. Today Our Lord explains by means of concrete examples how it is that we live by this new and demanding logic: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Lk. 6:36). This exhortation to mercy is an echo of the fifth beatitude recorded in St.
Matthew’s Gospel: Blessed are merciful for they will obtain mercy (Mt.
