By: Sis Rose Romano (SFL Abu Dhabi)
Another memorable activity in SFL was held last April 15, 2016 at St. Anthony Parish, RAK. What is it? It’s the SFL UAE version of Singles Congress- the MISERICORDIA. What does it mean? It’s a Latin or Spanish word for “mercy” which is derived from misericos “merciful”, which in turn is derived from misereri, to “pity” and cor, “heart”.
Misericordia is a timely activity because our theme this year is “Rich in Mercy”. As Pope Francis said, “Mercy is Love’s second name”. The challenge is how to apply in our lives the Misericordia way? To better understand our theme, we should remember the 3 U’s (Unconditional, Unmeasurable, Unchanging) mentioned in the Generosity of God’s Plan (Ep 2:1-10). God doesn’t require anything from us. He gives HIS mercy to us freely, HIS mercy will never run out and even though we have sinned, HIS mercy is still the same mercy yesterday, today and forever because God’ mercy never changes. God’s mercy is the indelible bond we have with HIM that even though we are prodigal and we squander our sonship, God will always welcome us back with open arms ready to embrace us just like the Father.
We must remember that it is not enough that God gives us mercy. We need to receive it because when we receive mercy – it is the ultimate mercy to self. Just like in the parable of the lost sheep, we are sometimes dumb, directionless and defenseless same as the sheep. But the shepherd’s motive is not in anger to punish, but in love to rescue. God, who is rich in mercy, searches for us. He wouldn’t stop until he finds us. Jesus desires for us to come back to Him. He is teaching us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us in His love. Sometimes, we find it difficult to forgive when we are H.U.R.T. (Hit down hard, Unloved, Rejected and Taken for granted). We forget that if there is HURT, there is H.E.A.L. (Humility, Endurance, Acceptance, Love) that will guide us to find peace and healing that our heart deserves.
The problem sometimes is, we ask difficult and impossible questions like “Paano mag-move on kung hindi naging kayo” without realizing to ask ourselves if we did our part to attain our goals like “May ginawa ka bang paraan para maging kayo? O baka naman, hanggang tingin at asa ka nalang?” What God is asking us is not to be afraid to take chances and give chances, He want us to accept His mercy and be merciful and loving to others as well.
There is a need for the world to experience God’s mercy because the evil one is controlling it. God did HIS part. It is our time to show the greatest act of mercy that we can do today – to lead people closer to God by EVANGELIZATION. Some says, “walang forever”, but the truth is “may forever sa pagmamahal ng Diyos”. We just have to surrender our hearts and answer the call to become MERCY-NARIES. How about you? Yes you, are you ready to accept the challenge to become one of the mercy-naries of Christ?
God bless us all!
The Vineyard Magazine 