While Jesus says in this particular beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy", if we are honest with ourselves, we don't always like the idea of mercy.
Sometimes we think that mercy stands in the face of people getting the justice that we think they deserve. We want people to be judged, especially when we feel that we have been wronged, instead of showing compassion and forgiveness.
And is this not true of so many things in our world? We either seek peace or we seek justice. We either seek justice or show mercy. Either justice or righteousness.
But the truth is all of that can exist in God. Mercy, justice, peace, righteousness. And it's not always ours to sort out. It can be too overwhelming for our limited way of seeing the world. So instead, we live into who God calls us to be, in this particular beatitude, people of mercy, and trust the rest to God. As much as that may boggle our mind.
This beatitude is as much about recognizing our own need for mercy as it is about shaping us into being people of mercy. All of which requires leaning into the love and grace of God.
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