Mercy Profile - Bear Wrongs Patiently

If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? This quote from David Otis Fuller puts a spotlight on our ongoing journey as Disciples of Christ. It reflects both our aspirations and our human limitations to live out that goal. 

Over the past fourteen weeks, we have explored all fourteen Acts of Mercy, seven corporal and seven spiritual. The former is probably more familiar to many as they focused on meeting others’ physical needs with charitable acts. The latter are more nuanced and demand a deeper reflection of who we are as Christians.

The irony of this last spiritual Act of Mercy, Bear Wrongs Patiently, is that it is one of the most relatable acts but one of the hardest to regularly practice. The frequency in which another person irritates us, angers us or just plain hurts us is probably the reason this act is so difficult. It demands that we constantly have to put aside our natural inclination to respond with the same level of hurt or revenge and replace that response with mercy and patience. 

This is probably one of the reasons St. Thérèse of Liseux is one of our favorite saints, even though she lived a short twenty-four years. Her “little way” shows us how each one of us can fulfill the destiny God intends for us. “God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.”

As a young child in school and as a novice at the convent, Thérèse was bullied. Rather than taking revenge or “evening up the score”, she kept silent and shifted her focus to areas where she could make a positive difference, especially through prayer. This did not, however, mean that she did not struggle like the rest of us, both with unwarranted blame and daily annoyances.

From her autobiography “The Story of a Soul,” she shares:

“For a long time my place at meditation was near a Sister who fidgeted continually, either with her Rosary, or something else; possibly, as I am very quick of hearing, I alone heard her, but I cannot tell you how much it tried me. I should have liked to turn round, and by looking at the offender, make her stop the noise; but in my heart I knew I ought to bear it tranquilly, both for the love of God and avoid giving pain. So I kept quiet, but the effort cost me so much that sometimes I was bathed in perspiration, and my mediations consisted merely in suffering with patience.”

Other of her life’s stories exemplifies that in a spiritual world we are called on to practice this act in the face of major injustice and in the dozens of daily interactions with others. There is no lack of opportunities to show the grace and love of St. Thérèse. It could be a family member who has a sharp word for us or blames us unfairly, a friend who misses a key event or fails to respond to a call or text or perhaps a stranger who cuts us off in traffic or in front of us in line. It is only with constant vigilance and prayer to respond with patience and mercy that we can approach the life Christ asks us to live.