The Fifth Beatitude that was spoken in the Sermon on the Mount is, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7). It is possible that no other commandment of Christ is needed more in our epoch than this commandment of mercy, of charity.
We live in the era of ideologies which in their attempt to be all-encompassing exist in continuous strife, and this strife fills the world with fear and hatred. We live in a world where mercy and charity are exiled, and that that is perhaps the most frightening thing about it, the sign of its dehumanization.
How often it is told about Christ in the Gospels that He had compassion on them, that He was merciful to them!
Father Alexander Schmemann