I love reading St. Paul’s letters – I’ve seen movies depicting his life and I don’t think they quite capture his passion and love for the people he writes to. Today, you can hear him literally pleading for the life of one man. Even to the point of blackmailing him (or so it seems to me) saying: “May I not tell you that you owe me your very self. “. Interesting! It’s almost as though he is saying if you can’t do this out of the goodness of your heart, then do it because you owe me much more! Wonder how it worked out.

The Kingdom of God is among us when justice prevails and mercy tempers the punishment. In Canada there is an ongoing case of a young woman who murdered a child. The woman claimed to be indigenous so the justice system allowed her to be sentenced to a healing lodge – no bars! The parents of the murdered child and the community were outraged. She was sent back to prison because her father said she was no more indigenous than him. The question then is, should mercy be meted out in all circumstances? Would the young woman be rehabilitated, never to reoffend if she were to complete her sentence at the healing lodge? Prisons do not rehabilitate most offenders, they often make them worse. What would St. Paul have recommended, what would Jesus have done. Our society say they want justice, what we really want is revenge. Justice and mercy should go hand in hand for us to recognize that the Kingdom of God is present in our midst.