"i Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice"

[Shukran_Allah]

Hi there! I thought I'd ask a ques. about Jesus Christ's words to his diciples, "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Could you help me understand better what this means in relation to Our Blessed Mother's promptings to Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia (Sr. Maria) at Fatima to pray and offer sacrifices, and the many times Jacinta and Sr. Maria have said that His Heart desires sacrifices for sinners?

My thoughts on this are that the sacrifice He desires spoken of here are for benefit others (spec. sinners) as a spiritual act of mercy (which would most likely incorporate, "bearing wrongs patiently.")

Your thoughts on this would be really helpful! Thanks!

[phatcatholic]

Your thoughts are correct. Here is what the [i]Navarre Commentary[/i] says for Mt 9:13[list][b]13.[/b] Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).
[/list]In their strict legalism they had abandoned mercy. Apparently it was unlawful (or they considered it unlawful) to share a meal with sinners and with the outcast of society.....but no law is just that is without mercy. Jesus is justifying his actions by showing them with their own prophets this [b][i]His[/i][/b] action is the merciful one, the one that God wants --not theirs.

Pax Christi,
phatcatholic