There are moments in life in which we fall short from the idealized version of ourselves that we have in mind. “I shouldn’t be feeling this,” “I should be over this by now,” “I shouldn’t have said that,” “I shouldn’t have done that,” are just some of the phrases that might pop up in our internal dialogue. Suddenly, our hearts are filled with frustration, despair, shame, even self-loathing towards our current selves that we’d rather not be.
The words of Christ in today’s gospel should be a consolation to us all when we are in such a space. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Just how often are we ready to drag this less than ideal version of ourselves and sacrifice it in the altar of perfectionism. Such a disposition does violence and harm to the integrity of our being, but more importantly, it takes us away from offering our praise and worship to the one true God, a God of mercy.
We are all being molded into better versions of ourselves by the hands of our maker. How about the next time we find ourselves in a negative space, we look at ourselves with the eyes of gentleness and mercy that Christ has for us. Mercy. It begins with us. Only mercy will open our hearts and show us the way.