26th Sunday 2026 - Step

Our Lord challenges the Chief Priests and scribes of their self-righteousness by telling a parable of two sons who are asked to respond to their father's will - only the one who does what the father desires is responding to the will. So it is for us: we must do the will of God, which is often a next best step. #Catholic #homily #Scripture #GospelOfTheDay #mercywithteeth Sign up to have podcasts and blog posts emailed to you: https://ift.tt/fBugcjU Give feedback at https://forms.gle/gGhujv39g43BUxmK6 Readings are found at https://ift.tt/0lxRKPW True Mercy Has Teeth: A Catholic Journey to Forgiveness and Healing is now available on Amazon and other places as listed at www.mercywithteeth.com
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St. Cosmas and St. Damian: Mercy Freely Given

There are many ways to speak about mercy.

We can talk about forgiveness, compassion, reconciliation, and healing. But sometimes mercy is much more concrete.

Sometimes mercy looks like showing up at someone's bedside.

Sometimes it means using the gifts God has given us for someone who has nothing to give in return.

And sometimes it means doing so simply because the person in front of us is worth loving.

The lives of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, whose memorial we celebrate today, offer a beautiful example of this kind of mercy.

They were brothers, physicians, and Christian martyrs of the early Church. Tradition remembers them as the Anargyroi—the "Penniless Ones" or "Unmercenaries"—because they refused payment for the medical care they provided.

They had the knowledge and skill to make a living from their profession. Instead, they freely treated those who could not afford care.

Their medicine became an act of mercy.

Mercy That Costs Something

Cosmas and Damian remind us that mercy is not merely feeling sorry for someone. Mercy moves.

They did not simply see suffering and wish that things were different. They took what they had—their knowledge, their skill, and their time—and placed it at the service of those who needed it.

Their gifts had value.

Their labor had value.

Their time had value.

Yet they gave these things freely.

This is mercy with teeth: compassion that becomes concrete action.

The Church does not ask us all to give our work away without compensation. But the Penniless Ones challenge us to consider whether everything we possess must be measured by what we can get in return.

There are moments when Christian charity requires us to say:

"This person cannot repay me—and I will help anyway."

Seeing the Person Before the Payment

Imagine being sick in the ancient world, where poverty could mean that medical care was simply beyond your reach.

Then two physicians arrive and treat you without asking what you can pay.

What must that have communicated?

Before they were patients, these people were human beings.

Before they were sources of income, they were brothers and sisters.

Cosmas and Damian saw the person before they saw the payment.

That is a profoundly Christian way of seeing.

Jesus does not ask us first, "What can this person do for me?"

He teaches us to see the hungry, the sick, the lonely, the forgotten, the prisoner, the stranger—and ultimately, to see Him.

Why "Penniless"?

The title Anargyroi—the "Penniless Ones"—is particularly striking.

They were not penniless because they lacked ability or opportunity. Their poverty was voluntary. They chose not to make money the measure of their service.

Their example reminds us that our gifts are ultimately gifts from God.

And gifts are meant to be given.

This does not mean that Christians should never receive payment for their work or that professional expertise has no monetary value. Rather, Cosmas and Damian challenge us to recognize that there are things more important than what a person can afford to pay.

The person who cannot repay us is still worthy of our love.

Their Mercy Eventually Cost Them Everything

There is an even deeper dimension to their story.

Their generosity was not limited to their profession. According to ancient Christian tradition, the brothers eventually suffered martyrdom during a persecution of Christians.

The men who had freely given their medical care ultimately gave the greatest gift of all: their own lives.

They gave their knowledge.

They gave their time.

They gave their labor.

And finally, they gave themselves.

Their lives point us toward the Cross, where Christ gives Himself without counting the cost.

The Physician Who Heals

There is a beautiful connection between the ministry of Cosmas and Damian and the ministry of Christ.

The brothers were physicians who treated bodily illness.

Christ is the Divine Physician who comes to heal the deepest sickness of the human person: sin.

And Christ does not charge us for His mercy.

We cannot purchase redemption.

We cannot earn grace.

We cannot pay God back for salvation.

It is pure gift.

Cosmas and Damian's generosity points toward that greater reality. They gave healing freely because they had encountered the One who gives Himself freely.

What Are We Willing to Give?

Perhaps the Penniless Ones leave us with a simple question:

What has God given me that I can give away?

    My time?

    My knowledge?

    My skills?

    My money?

    My attention?

    My forgiveness?

    My presence?

    My patience?

Every one of us possesses something that another person needs. And sometimes the person who needs it cannot repay us.

That may be precisely the point.

The Penniless Ones remind us that Christian mercy is not measured by what we receive in return. It is measured by the love with which we give.

St. Cosmas and St. Damian, pray for us.

Teach us to see Christ in those who are suffering.

Teach us to use our gifts for the good of others.

Teach us to give without keeping score.

And teach us that true mercy is not merely something we feel.

True mercy has teeth. It gets to work.

25th Sunday 2026 - Just

Jesus shares a parable of a landowner who invites workers to his vineyard at various times of the day. When it comes to paying each, he starts with those who worked the shortest, and pays them the usual daily wage, and those who worked all day grumbled. The Master for just, but he may not have been fair. That's the point. God gives us what we truly need, Himself. #Catholic #homily #Scripture #GospelOfTheDay #mercywithteeth Sign up to have podcasts and blog posts emailed to you: https://ift.tt/jeV53ZO Give feedback at https://forms.gle/gGhujv39g43BUxmK6 Readings are found at https://ift.tt/8Of24F3 True Mercy Has Teeth: A Catholic Journey to Forgiveness and Healing is now available on Amazon and other places as listed at www.mercywithteeth.com
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Our Lady of Sorrows: Mercy That Stays

There is something almost unsettling about the image of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Mary is not pictured smiling.

She is not standing at a comfortable distance from the suffering of her Son.

She is standing beneath the Cross.

She watches the One she loves suffer and die.

And she stays.

That is where we discover another dimension of what I call "mercy with teeth."

Mercy does not always fix the suffering.

Sometimes mercy means refusing to abandon someone who is suffering.

(Image is the 13th Station in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - Our Lady of Sorrows.)

The Mother Who Remained

The Gospels tell us that Mary stood near the Cross of Jesus. While many of His disciples had fled, she remained.

Think about what that required.

She could not stop the crucifixion.

She could not take away the nails.

She could not silence the crowd.

She could not prevent her Son from suffering.

But she could be there.

And she was.

Sometimes we are tempted to believe that if we cannot solve someone's problem, there is nothing we can do.

Mary teaches us otherwise.

There are moments when the most merciful thing we can do is simply stay.

To sit beside someone who is grieving.

To accompany someone who is dying.

To listen to someone who has been wounded.

To stand beside someone who has been abandoned.

To remain when there are no words that can make things better.

That is mercy.

And it has teeth because it requires courage.

Mercy Is Not the Absence of Suffering

We sometimes imagine mercy as God's way of making suffering disappear.

But Mary's experience tells us something different.

She was the mother of the Messiah.

She was full of grace.

And yet she suffered.

Her holiness did not protect her from the pain of this world.

Instead, her holiness gave her the strength to enter into that pain with Christ.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary remind us that mercy does not always mean removing the Cross.

Sometimes mercy means helping another person carry it.

That is why the Christian response to suffering cannot simply be, "How do I make this go away?"

Sometimes the better question is:

"How can I help this person carry it?"

The Sword That Pierced Her Heart

Simeon had warned Mary early in Jesus' life:

"And you yourself a sword will pierce."

That prophecy was fulfilled beneath the Cross.

Mary's heart was pierced by the suffering of her Son.

And yet she did not turn away.

This is a profound image of mercy.

To love another person is to make ourselves vulnerable to their suffering.

If we truly love, their wounds begin to matter to us.

Their grief affects us.

Their pain costs us something.

Mercy with teeth is willing to pay that price.

It refuses the easier path of indifference.

The Courage to Stay

There are many ways we can abandon someone without physically walking away.

We can avoid the uncomfortable conversation.

We can stop answering the phone.

We can decide that someone's problems are simply too complicated.

We can say, "They made their own choices."

Sometimes those things may be necessary. Mercy does not require us to remain in situations that are dangerous or abusive.

But even when we must establish boundaries, we can refuse to surrender our compassion.

Mary shows us a different kind of strength.

She stayed close to Christ without being able to change His circumstances.

She loved Him without being able to rescue Him from the Cross.

She suffered with Him without taking His place.

Her presence was itself an act of love.

Mercy Does Not Enable

This is important when we speak about mercy with teeth.

Mary's presence at the Cross was not passive approval of evil.

She did not call the crucifixion good.

She did not pretend that injustice was justice.

She did not tell Jesus that His suffering didn't matter.

She simply refused to let suffering have the final word.

That distinction is important in our own relationships.

Mercy does not mean remaining in an abusive situation.

It does not mean protecting someone from the consequences of their actions.

It does not mean pretending that evil is acceptable.

It means that even when we must say "no," establish boundaries, seek justice, or separate ourselves from someone who causes harm, we can still refuse to become consumed by hatred.

Mercy can have boundaries.

Mercy can demand justice.

Mercy can speak hard truths.

And mercy can still remain mercy.

From the Cross to the Resurrection

The Blessed Virgin Mary's story did not end at Calvary.

The woman who stood beneath the Cross would also experience the joy of the Resurrection.

This is the hope at the heart of Christian mercy.

We do not enter into another person's suffering because we believe suffering is the end.

We enter because we know Christ has conquered death.

The Cross is real.

But so is the empty tomb.

The sorrow is real.

But so is the hope.

The wound is real.

But so is the possibility of healing.

Our Lady Teaches Us Mercy

Our Lady of Sorrows teaches us that mercy sometimes looks less like fixing and more like accompanying.

It looks like staying.

It looks like listening.

It looks like praying.

It looks like carrying another person's suffering to Christ.

It looks like refusing to abandon someone simply because we cannot solve their problem.

And sometimes it looks like having the courage to say the difficult thing, establish the necessary boundary, or pursue justice—while still refusing to surrender the person to hatred.

That is mercy with teeth.

It is tender enough to weep.

Strong enough to stay.

Courageous enough to confront evil.

And faithful enough to stand beneath the Cross until the dawn of resurrection.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

Teach us to remain with those who suffer.

Teach us to love without enabling evil.

Teach us to seek justice without vengeance.

Teach us to forgive without pretending that wounds do not matter.

And when the Cross becomes too heavy for us to carry alone, teach us to stand beside your Son—and to invite others to stand there with us.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

24th Sunday 2026 - Released

After St. Peter asked how often he should forgive, our Lord tells a parable about a wicked debtor who owes and impossibly large amount (100,000,000 days wages) who begs for patience, but refuses to forgive the smaller debt (100 days wages) owed him. The King does not, as a result forgive the debt. The message is clear - release the debt. #Catholic #homily #Scripture #GospelOfTheDay #mercywithteeth Sign up to have podcasts and blog posts emailed to you: https://ift.tt/O5lIhso Give feedback at https://forms.gle/gGhujv39g43BUxmK6 Readings are found at https://ift.tt/WgVn5MO True Mercy Has Teeth: A Catholic Journey to Forgiveness and Healing is now available on Amazon and other places as listed at www.mercywithteeth.com
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St. Peter Claver: Mercy That Would Not Look Away

St. Peter Claver lived in a time when the buying and selling of human beings was treated by many as an ordinary part of commerce. Yet when he encountered the enslaved people arriving in Cartagena, Colombia, he saw something entirely different.

He saw human beings.

He saw the image of God.

And he saw Christ.

Peter Claver was a Jesuit priest who devoted his life to ministering to enslaved Africans arriving in the port of Cartagena. He would go aboard the slave ships, bringing food, medicine, and whatever comfort he could provide. He cared for the sick and dying, baptized those who desired it, taught the faith, and defended the dignity of those whom society had reduced to property.

He did not simply feel sorry for them.

He acted.

That is mercy with teeth.

Mercy That Refuses to Look Away

It would have been easy for Claver to recognize the enormity of the slave trade and conclude that there was nothing one priest could do.

Instead, he did what was immediately in front of him.

He served the person standing before him.

He treated those whom the world considered commodities as brothers and sisters.

He became, in his own words, "a slave of the slaves forever."

His ministry reminds us that mercy begins when we allow another person's suffering to interrupt our own lives.

Mercy refuses to become comfortable with another person's misery.

Beyond Compassion

St. Peter Claver's witness also challenges us to distinguish compassion from mercy.

Compassion feels the suffering of another.

Mercy does something about it.

Sometimes we cannot immediately change an entire system of injustice. But we can refuse to participate in it. We can defend the dignity of the person before us. We can speak when silence would make us complicit. We can serve those whom others overlook.

St. Peter Claver did all of this.

His ministry did not end the institution of slavery. But he refused to allow the existence of an enormous injustice to become an excuse for doing nothing.

He changed the lives immediately before him—and he gave the Church a witness that continues to challenge us.

Mercy Has Teeth

The mercy of Jesus is never satisfied with simply recognizing that someone is suffering.

Christ commands us to love our neighbor.

And sometimes loving our neighbor requires confronting the things that diminish, exploit, or dehumanize our neighbor.

That is why St. Peter Claver belongs so naturally in the story of True Mercy Has Teeth.

Mercy feeds the hungry.

Mercy cares for the sick.

Mercy comforts the suffering.

But mercy also says:

    This person has dignity.

    This person is not a possession.

    This person is not disposable.

    This person bears the image of God.

St. Peter Claver's life reminds us that authentic Christian mercy has courage. It does not merely weep over injustice.

It gets its hands dirty.

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Help us to see Christ in every human person—and give us the courage to act whenever human dignity is threatened.

23rd Sunday 2026 - Salvation

Our Lord gives a model for conflict resolution, one that respects others and leads to salvation. It comes down to love. #Catholic #homily #Scripture #GospelOfTheDay #mercywithteeth Sign up to have podcasts and blog posts emailed to you: https://ift.tt/2bjn9eR Give feedback at https://forms.gle/gGhujv39g43BUxmK6 Readings are found at https://ift.tt/SJGxzIF True Mercy Has Teeth: A Catholic Journey to Forgiveness and Healing is now available on Amazon and other places as listed at www.mercywithteeth.com
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