Christ is risen!
I have declared to you, O man, what is good; or what does the Lord require of you, except to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk humbly with the Lord your God? For the Lord shall be exalted in strength, and shall tend His flock in peace, even to the ends of the earth. (Micah 6:8)
The Prophet Micah tells us that what the Lord requires of us day to day is that we “do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk humbly with the Lord.” We are not only to be merciful, but we are to love mercy. Mercy is to be our default mode of thinking and acting. It should bring us joy to be merciful—to show mercy to those around us, even if they don’t deserve it, for that is what we also ask from God for ourselves. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). If we want God’s mercy, we have to be merciful to those around us. Remember Christ’s parable of the unforgiving servant who after showing no mercy to a fellow servant has to pay his full debt to his forgiving and merciful master.
We also are told to walk humbly with God, but what does this mean? St Isaac of Nineveh describes in detail what it is to be a humble person. This is what it takes to walk humbly with God:
A humble man is never rash, hasty, or perturbed, never has any hot and volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm. . . . Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet. . . . This is also what the meek and humble Lord meant when he said, ‘Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.‘ For the humble man is always at rest, because there is nothing which can agitate or shake his mind. . . .
Humility is accompanied by modesty and self-collectedness: that is, chastity of the senses; a moderated voice; mean speech; self-belittlement; poor raiment; a gait that is not pompous; a gaze directed toward the earth; superabundant mercy; easily flowing tears; a solitary soul; a contrite heart; imperturbability to anger; undistracted senses; few possessions; moderation in every need; endurance; patience; fearlessness; manliness of heart born of a hatred for this temporal life; patient endurance of trials; deliberations that are ponderous, not light; extinction of thoughts; guarding of the mysteries of chastity; modesty; reverence; and above all, continually to be still and always to claim ignorance. (THE ASCETICAL HOMILIES, p 349)
Fraternized 