Prayer for the sick
The prayer for the sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Luke 6,36-38
'Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.'
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
To be merciful like God means to have a heart like God's, to be as attentive as God is, to love as God loves. It is certain that if it is impossible for us, it is what the world needs. Mercy, which has nothing to do with corny sentimentality, is a power that changes hearts and history, just as Jesus changed it, he who, full of mercy, walked through the villages and towns of his time and brought healing and joy. From Gospel mercy also flows the command not to judge and to forgive. Those who believe that they can judge everything will also be judged. It is a timely exhortation. Judging is understood in the sense of condemning someone, of putting them in a corner and preventing them from changing. Another thing, of course, is to condemn the mistake. One must never "condemn", that is, identify the sin with the sinner. Whoever condemns, usually does so only with others, never with oneself. We are very able to see the straw in the eye of the other and not to see the beam that is in ours. Jesus warns: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you." And he adds that all this will be done with abundance. The example of the grain that is poured with abundance into the bag until it overflows, until it comes out, almost wasted, shows the excess of God's love and mercy that the world needs today. And God continues to pour His mercy on us in excess, even if it is wasted.