“Nothing displeases God so much as a lack of mercy” (St John Chrysostom).
We can understand these words of St John Chrysostom, because even in the Gospel we are often shown how important it is to God that we recognise and imitate His mercy.
Mercy – in contrast to false condescension – flows from the Father’s Heart towards us and gives us true life. Without it, we would fall prey to judgement, and who could stand before it? If we were judged by ruthless justice, we would be lost.
That is why the greatness of our Heavenly Father’s love is manifested precisely in His mercy, which He offers and bestows on us every day in countless signs of love. In the crucifixion of His beloved Son, God’s mercy was established and manifested as an everlasting sign for all people. Even beyond the cruelty of sin, which went so far as to crucify the Son of God, the mercy of our Father shines forth on the Cross and gives hope to human beings. If they accept this undeserved gift of grace in the Lord’s sacrifice, they will live.
In the face of all this, man’s lack of mercy is an injustice so great that it wounds the Heart of our Father. It is like a direct rejection of the immense gift of love, and it closes man’s heart to the very mercy that should melt it. Whoever acts unjustly towards others acts against them, against himself and above all against God, the Father of mercy. The Lord will make him feel the consequences, so that he will wake up and not harden his heart more and more, but be sincerely converted.