COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO LABOUR

The Face of Mercy is the Face of God; the Human Face of Mercy is that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Mary; Today’s Face of Mercy is meant to be your face, my face, the face of all of us who have accepted the call to be disciples of Jesus and strive to live according to His example and teaching.
 

According to the Acts of the Apostles, ‘Jesus of Nazareth began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism.  God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil,’ (10.37).
 

          The Gospels describe what a sensitive, caring person Jesus was. 

                 Out of loving mercy He attended to their various needs:

1.  THE BASIC  BODILY NEED FOR FOOD,
‘But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, or they might collapse on the way.' (Mt. 15.32)            

                                                            

2.  THE NEED OF THE SICK TO BE HEALED,
‘So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.’ (Mtt.14.14).

3.  THE INNER NEED TO BE SPIRITUALLY ENLIGHTENED,
‘ So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length,’ (Mk. 6.34).

We see here that Jesus reached out to people at every level of their being and brought to them wholesomeness…to their bodies, their minds, and to their inner spiritual selves. 
 

Jesus wants you and me, His disciples to be the channels, the instruments of His merciful love for all mankind. He inspires us to do this. He empowers us to do so.
 

For our convenience the Church has drawn up lists of areas of merciful concern that we should attend to:

1   FOR THE SAKE OF THE BODY   -THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY

Feed the hungry,
Give drink to the thirsty , 
Clothe the naked,    
 Shelter the homeless,
Visit the sick ,
Visit the imprisoned ,  

Bury the dead.

2.  FOR THE SAKE  OF  INNER  PERSONAL NEEDS --THE SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY    

Admonish the sinner,   
Instruct the ignorant ,
Counsel the doubtful ,    
Comfort the sorrowful,
Bear wrongs patiently,   
Forgive all injuries,  
    Pray for the living and the dead          

Together we, Isidore and Peter Clarke, O.P., are going to compose our own reflections on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. This will be our contribution to the Jubilee Year of Mercy. 

We want this to stimulate us into living, acting, with merciful love towards other people. We hope this will be treated as more than interesting reading matter.

We need the grace to compose these reflections. All of us need the grace to respond to them creatively.

          Soon to follow – our personal reflections on each of the Works of Mercy..

 

Isidore and Peter  Clarke, O.P.