The Beatitudes: Mercy Me!

The Beatitudes: Mercy Me!

Bible Blast: Read Matthew 9:35-37

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7

My second daughter, Autumn Qiu Yun Gresh, was thirteen when we met, and I didn’t know then just how merciful she was. But it didn’t take long to see it. The first time I saw it was when she met one of my husband’s best friends. When she heard he was a single dad, she began asking me almost every night if we could take food to him and his children. That’s just how Autumn Gresh rolls. She sees people’s needs and wants to help them. That’s mercy.

Mother Teresa is thought by many to be one of the most compassionate people in history. (Of course, we know Jesus is numero uno in compassion!) Below is part of one of her most beloved prayers.

Dear Jesus,

Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with your Spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly

that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us and be so in us

that every soul we come in contact with

may feel your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. . . .

The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.

None of it will be ours.

It will be you shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise you in the way you love best

by shining on those around us.

Let us preach you without preaching

not by words, but by our example

By the catching force

the sympathetic influence of what we do

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.

Girl Gab: If there was a word or two you don’t entirely understand from this prayer, ask your mom to explain it to you. Now pray the prayer together, not because the words are special or anything, but because the words are all about showing God’s compassion to others through how we live.