Year of Mercy Reflection

Friday, Oct. 28, 2016

We all have an image of mercy; for the Deaf, that image is linked to American Sign Language (ASL). The sign for mercy and the sign for pity share the same shape and movement of the hands. Looking at only this, mercy and pity would have the same meaning in ASL, yet the connotations of the words are very different.

To make the distinction between the words, ASL uses face and body expressions. To show the difference, while making the same sign we indicate feeling sorry for someone with a sad face, or compassion with an open attentive expression. 

Pity is a feeling. Mercy is an action. Rather than signing pity, meaning this is the year of pity, we sign mercy, a year of action.

Our call during this Year of Mercy is to act as Jesus did. He didn’t just feel sorry for people, He took action. He fed people. He gave them water and living water. He healed. He acted in mercy.  Jesus didn’t just feel pity, He did something about it!

In this Year of Mercy, will I only hear about my community’s needs and experience feeling sorry for someone? Or, rather than being passive and expressing pity for someone I’ve never met, will I take the challenge to do something, expressing mercy in my actions? How will I do this? For example, instead of reading about poverty, I can organize a food drive at work; or, hearing about the struggles of immigrants, I can mentor someone. There are many actions I can take.

During Mass, we are often assured of God’s mercy, listening to all He has done. So when I sign mercy in ASL, I’m called to action. When we are sent forth from Mass, we are called to be merciful, called to action, especially in this Year of Mercy.