Translation is an art, not a science. To take a word or phrase from one language, especially a language which was spoken two or three thousand years ago, and render it accurately into another language requires study, nuance and skill. Because translation can be so complex, people often disagree on the right way to do it. Reasonable people can come up with quite different ways to translate something, which is one of the reasons that proving one's point with a brief quote from the Bible can be so unpersuasive. The Bible according to whom is often the right response. Nevertheless, studying the words which Jesus used can be a rewarding activity, and today's Gospel is a good example of that (Mt 12:1-8). Jesus responds to the Pharisees who have criticized His disciples for picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath (a supposed offense against the prohibition on doing work on that day) by saying: "If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sadrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men." Jesus is quoting from chapter 6, verse 6, of the prophet Hosea. The "I" in the quotation is a reference to God, and Jesus is trying to get the Pharisees to see that God's desire is not for empty rituals, but for something interior, meaningful, real. But what is it that God wants? That word, "mercy," seems a bit odd, doesn't it. Why would God want "mercy"? God certainly doesn't need, or want, us to be merciful towards God. That's a silly concept. So what's going on? The word Hosea actually uses is the Jewish word "hesed." That word can mean mercy, of course, but it is generally translated as loyal, steadfast or faithful love. The translation of Hosea 6:6 that we American Catholics use, the New American Bible, uses the word "loyalty" rather than "mercy" for the original word "hesed." But when the quotation from Hosea comes out of Jesus' mouth, according to the New American translation, the word that gets used isn't "loyalty," it is "mercy." Those are two very different things. The only way to make sense out of the idea that God desires "mercy" is to suggest that the "mercy" in question is to be shown towards other persons. In other words, the idea is that God cares more about how we treat one another-- by showing mercy-- than God cares about simple ritualistic activity. It is that understanding that is behind most translations of the words Jesus uses, since most of them use that word "mercy." But "loyalty" or "steadfast love" might work too, and a few translations go that way. The notion there is that God cares that we love Him more than he cares about blind obedience to the law. That works as well. In fact, if you think about it, these two possible understandings of the quotation from Hosea that Jesus uses are parallel to the two great commandments Jesus articulates-- love God with your whole heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus has with one word called to mind the whole of the law and the prophets, and challenged the Pharisees to consider their narrow-minded judgment of Jesus' disciples in light of them. The word "hesed" gets used about 250 times in the Old Testament. We might spend just a bit of time reflecting on it as the expression of what God wants. Like the Pharisees, we might benefit from understanding its meaning.