God's Mercy

The Pope has declared this the 'Year of Mercy' for the catholic church to show us that our God is a merciful God who loves us beyond all our sins.  I was attending a church service last night where a local priest was speaking about mercy.  Father Bill Kiel gave a beautiful talk about how to seek God's mercy and how much God wants us to accept His mercy.  During the talk, I kept thanking God for His mercy on Daniel's life because I know God's mercy was what gave our son those 89 beautiful minutes.   At the end of the talk, Father Bill shared a story of a man who felt God's mercy upon him and asked for people in the crowd to share their stories of mercy.  No one moved so he asked again if anyone had a story of mercy to share.  The next thing I knew I was standing up looking around at all the people in the church telling them about Daniel.  I know the holy spirit was guiding me because I shared God's mercy on Daniel in such a peaceful mindset.  The words flowed out so smoothly that I didn't even feel like it was me talking.  While I was speaking about how Daniel was never supposed to medically have life, I explained how thankful I am that God granted Daniel mercy.  I shared how I believe that by so many people praying for Daniel and by Daniel bringing many back to prayer, God gave him life.  I see His mercy in our lives and know that part of our task is to share our testimony of His mercy for our son.  I think it is important that this is 'The Year of Mercy' and just before it began I was given such a beautiful gift from the mercy of God.  It shows that you don't need to seek out justification for what the Bible says and what religious beings tell you to find God's mercy.  It's all around us and within our own lives.  One of the key points Father Bill shared last night was that we need to also be merciful of others.  We can do this through prayer for others, speaking words of mercy, and by caring out merciful deeds.  I pray that all of you ask God for His mercy and grant mercy to others around you each day.  God's mercy is an amazing gift for all of us.