Lk 6:36-38
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 36“Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.
37“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. 38Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful. The challenge is not to imitate the Father—that is impossible, you may say. The Father is God, we are not. The call is to experience the mercy of the Father: to know how forgiving and understanding the Father has been with you, in spite of your repeated sins and failings.
It is said that if we truly know ourselves, we will be less condemning. And if we know others, we will be more compassionate. Know and experience the mercy of the Father, then live his mercy.
Mercy. The Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke is Jesus’ commentary on the Torah given to Moses, specifically the Ten Commandments. The heart of the Law is none other than the imitation of God who is perfect (Mt 19:21). For Luke, this perfection of God is found in his being merciful. As Israel confesses, God is Dives in misericordia, “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity” (Ex 34:6).