“The world needs mercy but does not
even realise it” John Paul 11
We need a church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of
mercy
Pope Francis
Imagine a world without mercy a CIA world
Insecure
Indifferent
Antagonistic
Imagine a world with mercy :
W - welcoming and warm
A - alive, affectionate, accepting
R - restored, renewed, refreshed
M - merciful, magnanimous,
T - tender and trusting
H - healing, hope, happiness
HEAVEN
ON
EARTH
“I have asked the church to re-discover
the richness encompassed by the
spiritual and corporal works of mercy ...
the concrete signs of mercy as Jesus
taught.”
Misericordiae Vultus
What does love look like?
Love has hands to help others
It has eyes to see misery and want
It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of others
That’s what love looks like.
St Augustine
The Corporal
Works of
Mercy
MERCY
IS
MINISTRY
TO THE
MARGINALISED
• To feed the hungry
• To give drink to the thirsty
• To clothe the naked
• To visit the sick
• To welcome the stranger
• To visit the imprisoned
• To bury the dead.
This is the way we reach out
to the poor and those in
need- particularly material
and physical needs.
The disadvantaged and disabled
The homeless and those written off
Those who don’t fit in and the lonely
The strangers and the migrants
The forgotten and the neglected
Those in real need and the feckless
FEED THE HUNGRY
• Support food banks and drop-in centres
• Support Cafod - against hunger
• Avoid wasting food
What
can we
do?
GIVE DRINK TO THE THIRSTY
• support Cafod’s campaign for wells
• look at different kinds of thirst
– for friendship, company,
information: what can we do?
• help people to ‘belong’ and meet
their needs
Have I ever known real
thirst?
Woman died of thirst in hospital
SHELTER THE HOMELESS AND WELCOME
THE STRANGER
•
Is there a drop-in shelter
near you?
•
Migrants and asylum seekers?
•
Housing for low-income people
•
How can we change attitudes of
suspicion?
How can we help?
VISIT THE IMPRISONED
• Prison visiting?
• support for prisoners’ families
• other forms of imprisonment –
housebound, chronic illness etc
Who are the imprisoned?
CLOTHE THE NAKED
• Go through your drawers and
wardrobes and see what you can
do without - donate to charities
• Knit blankets, shawls, balaclavas
for seamen
• Support the work of the St. Vincent
de Paul Society
What can I do without?
VISIT THE SICK
• Spend quality time with those
who are sick or housebound
• Send a card or an e-mail to
someone who is sick;
• Accompany a
friend to a medical
appointment
Have I got
time to
visit
someone?
BURY THE DEAD
• Participate in a bereavement ministry;
• Send sympathy cards to families of those who
have died.
• Make sure mourners are supported at funerals
• A card to remind them of the service
Can I pray
for the dead
and their
families?
At the end, we will be judged on how well
we have fulfilled the works of mercy.
Christ’s words in Matt 25:
“Come you whom my Father has blessed;
take for your heritage the kingdom
prepared for you ......
For I was hungry...
thirsty..
a stranger...
naked ....
sick....
in prison.
WHEN LORD?
As long as you
did it to the least
of my brethren
you did it to me
Lord, help me to be more like your Son; help me to see
others as he did;
when they are hungry, may I feed them;
When thirsty, give them a drink;
When I see the poor, give them hospitality and
help to clothe them.
Give me the courage to come to the aid of those
imprisoned in mind or body;
And Lord, give me the compassion to bury
the dead and to console the afflicted.
Help me Lord, to be your Son to others.