A year or two ago, a visiting priest came to our parish and when he stood at the pulpit to deliver his homily, he looked to the crowd and said, “Be merciful.  Be merciful.  Be merciful.”

And walked back to his seat.

The congregation was stunned, and not because of its profundity.  As people of faith, we often expect our religious leaders to exand!  elaborate!  explain!, forgetting that, from time to time, repeating the same thing can have its own deep impact.

That, or that priest feels like I do right now: I just don’t know what else to say.

Be merciful, folks.  However that affects you today in your relationships to others, to the earth, to the people of Japan, or even to yourself.

Be merciful.