God's Mercy

I am currently reading "Jesus: A Meditation on His Stories and His Relationships with Women" by Fr. Andrew Greeley, a well-known novelist and sociologist. In this book, he reflects on Jesus' parables and on his encounters with women, focusing on the element of surprise in all of them.

In speaking about the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Greeley writes of God's Mercy. This passage seemed particularly relevant in light of this being Holy Week, a time in which we remember the magnitude of God's mercy and forgiveness.

In the final analysis we are all, sociologists or drug lords, ultimately powerless in the face of God. We are all truly helpless. We cannot bargain with God, we can negotiate with him, we cannot make claims on him, we cannot force his hand. We are as dependent on hismerciful love as the injured Jewish traveler was on the generous compassion of the Samaritan . . . Only when we are willing to put ourselves in a position of utter dependency on God will we understand the power, the surprise of his love.