ST. JOSEMARIA ON THE SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY.
Mercy is more than simply being compassionate. Mercy is the overflow of charity, which brings with it also an overflow of justice. Mercy means keeping one’s heart totally alive, throbbing in a way that is both human and divine, with a love that is strong, self-sacrificing and generous.
St. Josemaria insists: Never allow anyone to pass by unnoticed. Have a friendly word and a helping hand for everyone, following St Paul’s advice: Alter alterius onera portate et sic adimplebitis legem Christi.Bear one another’s burdens, and thus you will fulfil Christ’s law. Together with our care and concern for material things, we also need to be constant in performing what are referred to as the spiritual works of mercy.
In the first place, we should correct those who stray, doing so in the right way, full of charity, without being annoying or offensive. We should instruct the ignorant by teaching them doctrine and enlightening their minds with our Lord’s light. We should counsel those in doubt, by giving them honest, impartial advice. We should console the afflicted, sharing their sorrow. We should forgive those who offend us: by excusing them, understanding them, and being magnanimous. And we should help those in need, going to great lengths to serve others.
St. Josemaria would say: Practise this spirit yourselves, and instil it in others. Let it be seen in every aspect of your lives: in the way you pay attention to your colleagues when they share their problems with you; in the silent help you give, perhaps without even being noticed, when someone is unable to cope with all the things he has to do; or in the sincere advice you give to a colleague to help him work better.
Finally, we should pray for the living and the dead, with a generous heart, because your charity has to be far-reaching, universal. You have to set your sights on the whole of mankind, with a concern for every soul in the whole world. This attitude will lead you to pray for everyone and, to the extent of your possibilities, to help everyone
If our love is universal, our prayer will also be universal in scope. There are so many souls to pray for here on earth: the Pope, the Father, our brothers and sisters, our parents and relatives, and our friends. Then there are the souls in purgatory. Everybody needs our prayers; everybody has a right to them. Pray for whoever is most in need, so that the charity of the Work may be as our Lord has wished it to be. And all through the mediation of the Immaculate Heart of our Holy Mother Mary.
Lord, you said: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Make us sensitive to the needs of souls; give us the generosity and fortitude to remedy those needs; give us a big heart like yours and that of your Mother, who is also Mater Misericordiae, Mother of mercy.