WORKS OF MERCY:
CRITERIA TO KNOW IF WE ARE REAL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
AND ON WHICH WE WILL BE JUDGED
In the Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae vultus, (Face of Mercy), Pope Francis exhorts us to:
Open our hearts, heal the wounds of those who are suffering and who are denied their dignity, console and cure them with solidarity and vigilant care overcoming our indifference, routine, destructive cynicism, hypocrisy and egoism…Let us rediscover the corporal and spiritual works of mercy which will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged.
(Cf. Pope Francis, Bull of Indiction for the Extraodrinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae vultus, n.15)
These works of mercy, introduced to us by Our Lord in his preaching as palpable manifestations of our Love of God and of our neighbour, are the PARAMETERS OR CRITERIA upon which we will be judged (Cf. Mt 25) and on which we can know “whether or not we are living as his disciples (Misericordiae vultus, loc.cit)
Dear friends: LET US THEN EXAMINE OURSELVES WHETHER WE ARE STRIVING TO BE REAL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST WILLING TO CARRY OUT BOTH THE CORPORAL AND SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY, OUT OF LOVE FOR GOD AND FOR OUR NEIGHBOUR.
- CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY:
- to feed the hungry,
- give drink to the thirsty,
- clothe the naked,
- welcome the stranger,
- heal the sick,
- visit the imprisoned,
- and bury the dead.
- SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY:
- to counsel the doubtful,
- instruct the ignorant,
- admonish sinners,
- comfort the afflicted,
- forgive offences,
- bear patiently those who do us ill, and
- pray for the living and the dead.
-Fr. Rolly Arjonillo, priest of Opus Dei. CATHOLICS STRIVING FOR HOLINESS. We are also in Facebook: www.facebook.com/CatholicsstrivingforHoliness Hope you like our page and invite your friends as well to do so in order to help more people.
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PHOTO SOURCE: Frans Francken II, “The Seven Acts of Mercy” (detail) in http://www.backtoclassics.com/images/pics/fransiifrancken/fransiifrancken_thesevenactsofmercy-detail.jpg