{"id":21366,"date":"2016-02-15T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T19:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=21366"},"modified":"2016-02-15T14:07:23","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T19:07:23","slug":"mercy-is-free-but-it-aint-cheap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2016\/02\/mercy-is-free-but-it-aint-cheap.html","title":{"rendered":"Mercy is Free….But It Ain’t Cheap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"divine_mercy2\"<\/a>Go here<\/a> to read my article at National Catholic Register on the price of mercy.<\/p>\n

\n

I can remember an old gospel preacher saying, \u201cMercy is free, but it ain\u2019t cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like so many of the old-timers, he understood God\u2019s unlimited, unmerited and unconditional mercy, but he also understood that it comes at a price.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church stipulates that an image of the crucified Lord is to be the predominant image near the altar of a church. This is to remind us that \u201cwe preach Christ crucified\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:23) and that the crucified Lord is the one who pays the price of mercy.<\/p>\n

The mystery of the cross is the mystery of mercy. Deep within the human heart is a dark twist that inclines us to blame others for what is wrong. Ever since Cain killed his brother Abel, the tendency to shift the blame and then destroy the blameless one has been acted out in human history.<\/p>\n

This dark strain in our nature causes us to not only\u00a0 shift the blame to others, but to judge others and condemn them. \u201cThey are the problem,\u201d we often convince ourselves, \u201cand if they are the problem, then they must be destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result of this urge to rush to judgment and project our guilt and blame on another is seen on the cross. There, Jesus accepts the blame with open arms and bears the violence that always accompanies the shifting of guilt. In this one action, he accepts the blame although he is blameless, and this act of mercy opens the doors of mercy for the whole world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here<\/a> is the full article.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Go here to read my article at National Catholic Register on the price of mercy. I can remember an old gospel preacher saying, \u201cMercy is free, but it ain\u2019t cheap.\u201d Like so many of the old-timers, he understood God\u2019s unlimited, unmerited and unconditional mercy, but he also understood that it comes at a price. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":20921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMercy is Free....But It Ain't Cheap<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Go here to read my article at National Catholic Register on the price of mercy. 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