[00:00] In the first reading today, we see how God's mercy came even to Ahab, who was said by the Scripture itself to be one of the most wicked of the kings of Israel. After the death of Naboth, whom Ahab actually killed because he refused to sell the king his personal field. So King

[00:38] Ahab had him killed. And it was also at the coaxing of his wife, Jezebel, the same one that had promoted the 400 prophets. And God sent the prophet Elijah to call him out on it. And then he responded, "Have you found me out, my enemy?" And our Lord had promised to destroy him, to, like, remember that he was one of the most evil of the kings of Israel, which is, you

[01:12] know, putting him in quite a group of people that we read in Scripture of the things that they did. But then we see after our Lord said, "I'm going to destroy you, I'm going to ruin your house, you're going to become like one of the ones that went against God before and was punished." And even talks about having the dogs devour his wife and him, you know, and all the people of his line or his lineage. But then, because he humbled himself before God, I guess

[01:46] God, he didn't, he still didn't escape God's punishment in a certain sense. But our Lord is a just God. And if He knows that the person is going to go one way down at the end of their life, that even the good things they do have to be rewarded somewhere. So although he was very evil, he humbled himself before God and God rewarded him by showing him mercy in this life, maybe

[02:16] even to try to get him to change completely. But we look at ourselves and we think of our own sins, and how God treats us, that we have been, we have received mercy. And in this month, when we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is one of the things that we're celebrating, the compassion and the mercy that our Lord has shown to us, that God has shown to us through His Son, in taking on human nature, He also took on a human heart, by which He can love us even with a human

[02:53] heart and thirst and desire our love. So we know that in the Old Testament, it said eye for eye, tooth for tooth, that our Lord wanted us to show mercy as He Himself has shown mercy, that He wants us to not hate our enemies, or despise those who persecute us or seek revenge. But He wants us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. They interpreted the law back then. And even

[03:30] though it wasn't part of the spirit of the law, they interpreted it as eye for eye, tooth for tooth, that personal revenge was something that was looked at as a virtue under justice. But our Lord wants us to leave that justice up to God, because only God knows the heart of man. Only God can fathom the depths of the human heart, and only He knows what He has in store for those who are living and who He places in our lives. We could be confronting a St. Paul who was persecuting the

[04:08] early Christians. In fact, we have a testimony of St. Stephen, who might have been the one to win the grace for St. Paul in his conversion. St. Paul was folding the garments of the people who were stoning him, and he himself admitted that he participated in it, in the killing of the first martyr, St. Stephen. But what was St. Stephen's response? He praised God, but he also forgave his enemies. He said, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Then we think of the example of

[04:43] St. Maria Goretti, who being killed at 11 years old, was willing to forgive her enemy, Alessandro. And not just forgive him, but to wish that he be with her in paradise. And then if you follow the line of that story, you know, further than that, you have the mother of Maria Goretti, who was willing, when Alessandro asked for forgiveness, to forgive him, because God has forgiven you,

[05:13] and Maria has forgiven you, and who am I not to forgive you? And not only did she forgive him, but that evening, on the eve of Christmas, she went to midnight Mass with him and received Communion with him as a sign of that forgiveness. And then she went further and adopted him as her son. This is the man who caused her so much grief, killed her daughter, her daughter who

[05:47] had helped her with everything, and kept the farm going, and their livelihood. And that she couldn't even go to the funeral of her own daughter, because Alessandro, because of the fact that she could not support her other children, and on the day, the last day she had with them was on the funeral of St. Maria Goretti. So she lost her children, she lost everything, yet she was willing

[06:17] to forgive. You know, we always talk about, and if you look it up on, you know, in the internet, everything always points to Maria Goretti, because she is the patroness of those who forgive their enemies, or who are called to forgive their enemies. But you also have the example of the mother forgiving Alessandro. And Alessandro, at one point, he completely turned around, and in fact,

[06:47] that's why he asked for forgiveness, because he completely changed his life through the grace of God, and through the offering of Maria Goretti, St. Maria Goretti, and also her mother. We have the words of St. John Vianney, who says, "The saints have no hatred, no bitterness. They forgive everything, and they think they deserve more, much more, for their offenses against God." St. Ignatius of Loyola, he once walked 100 miles to tend to a sick man, and he walked this

[07:25] through in winter. And this was a man that had just before, had stolen off of him. Yet you can imagine walking all that distance in the cold. You have St. Edmund Campion, the priest and martyr, who was betrayed by a friend and arrested. And it was through this that he ended up becoming a martyr. But this one who betrayed him came and visited him. And not only did he forgive him,

[07:58] but he actually wrote a letter so that, and he warned him to leave England and go to Germany, and gave him a letter of acceptance of a nobleman who would protect him in Germany. So he saved his life. Then you have another example of St. Francis de Sales, who was, I guess, abused by somebody. When I say abused, I mean like

[08:29] verbally abused by this man, who had always been like an enemy to him. And at one point, this man had shot St. Francis de Sales, but missed him and hit a priest, and they considered like attempted murder. He went to jail, but he was let out because St. Francis de Sales pleaded his cause and asked for a lighter sentence. So he was actually let off. But then

[09:00] when St. Francis de Sales went and visited him, he spat in his face and was still angry at him. And St. Francis de Sales said, "Well, you know, I've saved you from the justice of man." He said, "but if you do not change your ways, then you're going to have to face the judgment of God." But he taught us a lesson, and this lesson is that sometimes when we do extend mercy, it's not always going to be this magical thing that the people that we extend mercy to are going

[09:34] to change as much like our Lord. He suffered in the agony of the garden, especially for those who would not take advantage of His mercy and His love. But, you know, the saints omitted their own sins and enabled them to forgive others. We have St. Augustine, who says that there are many acts of kindness that help obtain pardon for our sins, but none is greater than that by which we forgive from our heart a sin that someone has committed against us. St. Philip Neri gave a

[10:09] suggestion that might help us have a habitual recourse to our Lord and to help control our anger and our desire for vengeance. He said that, he suggested that we practice controlling all this by imagining that we have suffered terrible insults and offenses against us or misfortunes, but then imagine also in that moment, when it hasn't actually happened to us,

[10:40] of imitating our Lord's example of forgiving those who are nailing Him on the cross. "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." And he promised that through bearing these things that we practice, this exercise with patience and charity, that it'll make it easier for us to respond habitually to these things when they actually happen to us. And we think of the words of St. John of the Cross when he said,

[11:14] "Where there is no love, pour love in and you will draw out love." St. Augustine also says, "If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men." St. Francis of Apollos says, "Pardon one another so that later on you will not remember the injury. The recollection of an injury is itself wrong. It adds to our anger, nurtures our sin,

[11:48] and hates what is good. It is a rusty arrow and poison for the soul. It puts all virtue to flight." Then you have St. Teresa of Avila who says, "I cannot believe that a soul which has arrived so near to mercy itself and has received the grace of mercy, where she knows what she is and how many sins God has forgiven her, should not instantly and willingly forgive others

[12:18] and be pacified and wish well to everyone who has injured her because she remembers the kindness and favors our Lord has shown her, whereby she has seen proofs of exceeding great love. And she is glad to have an opportunity offered to show some gratitude also to her Lord." For we know it's not by the sword, but it's by the heart in which we win souls for God

[12:50] and for those who God places in our lives, for the good and the bad, because as our Lord said, that vengeance is mine, but He leaves while we're living in this life the rain to fall on the good and bad alike, because God does not wish the death of a sinner, but that he turn to Him and live. So let us be an extension of our Lord, His Sacred Heart, His mercy and His love

[13:21] in this life, so that we also will be blessed and receive mercy, because one of the beatitudes our Lord said and gave to us is, "Blessed are they who show mercy, for they too shall receive mercy."