The Mercy of the Lord (15th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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The 55^th chapter of Isaiah is a declaration that the Lord’s mercy remained outstretched to the Jewish people in spite of their sins against the Mosaic Law, for which they were exiled to Babylon. He exhorts the people to seek the Lord, promising that He would be merciful to them and forgive their sins if only they would repent and trust in Him with their whole hearts, as it states in verses 6-7:

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

What follows in verses 8-9 is an affirmation that God is higher than man. While human beings may be fickle and capricious, God remains faithful and unchanging when it comes to fulfilling His promises. And while human mercy may have limits, God’s does not, as He is ever ready to show his benevolence to mankind:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This leads us to our OT reading, which speaks about God’s word always never failing but always accomplishing what He intends. The “word” here refers to His promise of mercy in the preceding verses. If He promises to show His mercy to those who remain faithful to Him, then He will not fail to be merciful. This steadfastness in the Lord’s promise gives us hope even in this present day, knowing that if we only turn away from sin and towards Him, God is ready to accept us as well with open arms.

In light of this, we should never despair of God’s mercy, but always turn back to him, with full assurance that He will never grow tired of pardoning us and giving us another chance to mend our ways.