WORKS OF MERCY -EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

 

 

He’d come home from work, tired. You might say ‘stressed-out.’ He didn’t simply sit down on an easy chair. He collapsed into it. As usual she brewed him a cup of tea. As usual she all-but slammed it onto the table beside him. As usual, he gave her a feeble grunt of acknowledgement. She had done one of the Corporal Works of Mercy – hadn’t she? No way! There was nothing of the ‘rider’ –‘as often as you did this…you did it to me!’ Never, would she have treated Jesus in this rough, offensive way.

 

And Jesus would never have used such insulting rudeness when receiving even the most grudging kindness !

 

In composing our meditations on the Corporal Works of Mercy we have become convinced that they are about far more than meeting the physical needs of a human body -- nourishment, clothing, healing, housing.

 

Works of Mercy must be about one person helping another – with compassion, sensitivity, respect, love. . . a wholesome reaching out to the wholeness of another person. Each is ennobled with a God-given dignity -both the giver and receiver of merciful kindness.

We would hope that the one who receives kindly consideration would show a friendly gratitude. In doing any of the Works of Mercy our attitude should be, 'I'm doing this for you because I know God wants me to. You're precious to me because you're precious to God.' It's all about our having a Christ-like attitudes towards people.

 

This kindles a closeness to them, a reverence for them. Our deep awareness of the loving kindness of our God, as expressed through the caring ministry of Jesus, should condition us to have an interest in people, to care about them, have time for them, and even to take care of them. We must never let ourselves become like the grumpy woman who had given her husband a cup of tea but nothing of herself - no warmth of love or friendship.

 

It was for him to drink it– It was none the sweeter to him, because he had received from her! Nowadays, we have so many ways of short-cutting acts of kindness... the 'remote mentality' of recruiting someone to deliver our generosity so as to save us the trouble of taking it ourselves. Providing a service can easily become more important to us than being a face to face friend, who offers a warm embrace and engages in some cheerful chatter!

 

Surely the purpose of our reflecting on the Corporal Works of Mercy has been that all of us should have become more sensitive, more responsive to the physical needs that people have. We should have been inspired to do more for others, to love them more and to treat them with greater consideration and respect.

 

We all have the privilege, the dignity, of being Ambassadors for Jesus, the Divine Physician, the Good Shepherd. We represent Him. He makes Himself present to us and through us. Jesus wants us to be the channels of His loving mercy. Such is our glorious vocation as followers of Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~

These reflections on the Corporal Works of Mercy have drawn their inspiration from the teaching of Jesus on the Last Judgement (Matt. 25). He intends that we should realize that our Christian Spirituality, our Eternal Salvation, stands or falls on whether we are or are not merciful to those in need.

We owe it to ourselves that we should hear these words,

"Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world," rather than, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

 

P.S. Look out for our reflections on the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy.

 Please pray for us - this project is not easy!

CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY-epilogue

                                                                   EPILOGUE

 

    He’d come home from work, tired. You might say ‘stressed-out.’   He didn’t simply sit down on an easy chair. He collapsed into it.   As usual she brewed him a cup of tea.   As usual she all-but slammed it onto the table beside him.   As usual, he gave her a feeble grunt of cknowledgement.    She had done one of the Corporal Works of Mercy – hadn’t she?    No way! There was nothing of the ‘rider’ –‘as often as you did this…you did it to me!’   Never, would she have treated Jesus in this rough, offensive way.

And Jesus would never have used such insulting rudeness when receiving even the most grudging kindness !  

In composing our meditations on the Corporal Works of Mercy we have become convinced that they are about far more than meeting the physical needs of a human body -- nourishment, clothing, healing,  housing.

Works of Mercy must be about one person helping another – with compassion, sensitivity, respect,  love. . . a wholesome reaching out to the wholeness of another person. Each is ennobled with a God-given dignity -both the giver and receiver of merciful kindness.

We would hope that the one who receives kindly consideration would show a friendly gratitude.   In doing any of the Works of Mercy our attitude should be, 'I'm doing this for you because I know God wants me to.   You're precious to me because you're precious to God.'   It's all about our having a Christ-like attitudes towards people.   This kindles a closeness to them,  a reverence for them.   Our deep awareness of the loving kindness of our God, as expressed through the caring ministry of Jesus, should condition us to have an interest in people, to care about them, have time for them, and even to take care of them.   We must never let ourselves become like the grumpy woman who had given her husband a cup of tea but nothing of herself - no warmth of love or friendship.  
 

It was for him to drink it– It was none the sweeter to him,  because  he had received from her!   Nowadays, we have so many ways of short-cutting acts of kindness... the 'remote mentality' of recruiting someone to deliver our generosity so as to save us the trouble of taking it ourselves.   Providing a service can easily become more important to us than being a face to face friend, who offers a warm embrace and engages in some cheerful chatter!
 

Surely the purpose of our reflecting on the Corporal Works of Mercy has been that all of us should have become more sensitive, more responsive to the physical needs that people have.   We should have been inspired to do more for others, to love them more and to treat them with greater consideration and respect.
 

We all have the privilege, the dignity, of being Ambassadors for Jesus, the Divine Physician,  the Good Shepherd.  We represent Him. He makes Himself present to us and through us.   Jesus wants us to be the channels of His loving mercy.   Such is our glorious vocation as followers of Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~

These reflections on the Corporal Works of Mercy have drawn their inspiration from the teaching of Jesus on the Last Judgement (Matt. 25).   He intends that we should realize that our Christian Spirituality, our Eternal Salvation, stands or falls on whether we are or are not merciful to those in need. 

 We owe it to ourselves that we should hear these words,

"Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world,"  rather than, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." 

                            P.S. Look out for our reflections on the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy.                           

    Please pray for us - this project is not easy!

THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY

7 -BURY THE DEAD

"BURY THE DEAD" is the last in the list of Corporal Works of Mercy. Well may we ask, "Where is the mercy in burying the dead?" Funerals take place through the arrangements made between the bereaved, the funeral parlour and, maybe, with a minister of religion.

A funeral commences once it is known that a person has died. Friends and family converge to comfort, console one another and pray together. It does happen that those who long have not been on speaking terms are brought together by grief.

Martha wept at the tomb of her brother, Lazarus; her sister wept in the privacy of their home. When Jesus wept for Lazarus, Martha and Mary, people remarked,

"See how much He loved."

There's something very personal in the way each of us handles sorrow in his own way. This should be respected rather than be the subject of mean-minded gossip!

Martha, in the midst of her sorrow, found the faith, the courage, to exclaim,

"I know my brother will rise again at the resurrection on the last day," (Jn.11). We, as Christians, must bring such confident expectation to the burying of our own dead.

Building on this Jesus then took Martha still further,

"I am the resurrection. Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

Jesus, in making an enormous, extravagant, claim for Himself, challenges Martha,

"Do you believe this?" "'Yes, Lord,' she said, 'I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.'"

These weighty words of Jesus and the forceful response of Martha must be at the core of any Christian burial. Through the hymns we choose, the sermons we preach we, as Church, should align ourselves with the death, resurrection, and entry into glory of Jesus.

Following an early Christian practice we pray for the dead - that God would purify, cleanse them of their sinfulness; that in His loving mercy, He would relieve them of penance still to be endured because of their sins. Through our loving prayer we play our part in their preparation for an eternity with God – their entering the Holy of Holies.

For us Christians a burial should be a deeply religious event reflecting our conviction:

‘WE COME FROM GOD –at the moment of our being conceived in our mother’s womb;

WE JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE TOWARDS GOD –

with His accompanying and assisting us

WE RETURN TO GOD – when we die…

WITH JESUS EAGER TO WELCOME US!

We conclude this reflection with these words of St. Paul to the people of Thessalonika,

" We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, to make sure that you do not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that in the same way God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." (I Thess. 4.13).

Let us ensure the funerals we celebrate have

A FAITH-FILLED, HOPE-FILLED RESONANCE.

This is what we Christians are to live by, this is what we are to die with!

Let us Pray,

Brother Jesus, when someone near to us, dear to us, has just died

something within us has died; part of our very selves has died. They were part of our lives - as we were part of theirs. Loneliness, emptiness, desolation, overwhelm us. It is at that moment that we begin to bury the deceased.

It is at that moment that we need someone to be with us, to befriend us, console us, as you, Jesus, were there with Martha and Mary. In you and through you they found peace, such as the world cannot give.

We pray that in such times when are heart-broken you will be present to us through your disciples - our families and friends - to console us.

We pray that you Jesus will inspire us to comfort and console others in their grief.

We pray that in the preparations for the burial we will show the respect and reverence for one who was, and always will be, a beloved child of God; whose body was, and always will be, a Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, we pray that everything in the funeral liturgy will reflect words you spoke to your closest friends,

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am.". Amen

For the sake of His Sacred Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Peter Clarke O.P

4th CORPORAL WORK OF MERCY

SHELTERING THE HOMELESS
 

'Behold, I stand at the door and knock;’

(Rev. 3. 30)

These words, taken from the Book of Revelation, are rightly understood to refer to Jesus knocking at the door of our lives, waiting patiently for us to open and make Him welcome. We're warned against ignoring His knock or deliberately shutting Him out.
 

But our lives may be too rowdy and busy for us to hear Him, or we may deliberately ignore His knock. We fear He would be too demanding and would be an inconvenient embarrassment. We’ve all heard sermons on these lines. Some of us have preached them. Afterwards we’ve probably resolved to make Jesus more welcome in our daily lives.

 

But let us remember that Jesus has made it very clear that He identifies with those in any kind of need. In other words, Jesus Himself identifies with the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers desperately fleeing their homeland, the run-away child, the tramp sleeping on the park bench. In them Jesus knocks on the doors of our lives, the doors of our affluent countries. In them Jesus begs for a home. In them Jesus begs to be made welcome. They need not just a roof over their heads, to protect them against the elements; they want the security of a place of their own, a place where they feel they belong, somewhere for them to have a decent quality of life.  Most of us take all of this for granted for ourselves.
 

But now put yourself in the shoes of the person knocking at our doors. To be deaf to their plea for shelter, is to be deaf to these ‘other Christs,’ longing, needing to make their homes with us. In them we react to the same Jesus, who prayed that we would abide in Him and He in us. If we shut Him out from our lives He will shut us out from His. That’s the clear, dire warning He gives at the end of chapter 25 of St. Matthew’s Gospel.
 

In His own life on earth Jesus knew what it meant not to have a roof over His head. When there was no room at the inn He was born in a stable. Shortly afterwards, the Holy Family became refugees; they had to flee Herod’s persecution and seek sanctuary in Egypt. In this they identified with all refugees. Speaking of His ministry as a wandering preacher Jesus said,

"The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’ (Lk. 9.58).

 

That is the lot of so many thousands of homeless people today. Jesus identifies with each one of them. In each one of them He knocks and waits. Will we open up and give them a home? Will we make Jesus-in-them welcome?
 

As Individuals, we can’t solve the heart-breaking problem of so many rootless, homeless people. But we can urge our national and local government to acts to provide them with homes. We can support and perhaps work with the various housing agencies and charities. But ideally, their homelands need to become sufficiently safe and prosperous, so that they can return, or better still, never need to leave.

But underlying our approach to the homeless must be the conviction that Jesus identifies with them in their need. Our attitude to them reflects our attitude to Him. If we shut them out, we shut Him out. In them Jesus appeals for our compassion. That should make us very uncomfortable!
 

Let us pray,

Heavenly Father, the world is horrified by the number of homeless refugees and asylum seekers. Armed conflict, economic hardship and starvation have forced them to leave their homeland, their loved ones and all their possessions. They’ve been forced to risk their very lives in an attempt to survive.

In their destitution they cry to you for help; they appeal to us of the prosperous developed world. If they are overwhelmed by their plight, so are we. And yet deep down we know we can’t simply brush them aside and say, "not my problem." We know that as fellow human beings, and as our brothers and sisters in Christ, their problem is our problem.

We pray for your guidance in finding the best way to help the homeless. May we find ways to overcome the causes of their flight, so that they don’t feel the need to leave their homelands. Or if they have done. so may they be helped to return and rebuild what has been destroyed. In the meantime may we respond to their immediate needs, and provide them with the shelter and security they desperately require. Inspire us, as individuals and as nations, to be prepared to make the demanding sacrifice necessary for us to be of real assistance.

We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who identified with the homeless in their need.

 

Isidore Clarke O.P.

 

 

5th CORPORAL WORK OF MERCY

                                  VISITING THE SICK 

Mtt. 25 “I was sick and you visited me.”

Never, never, never shall I forget the day I visited a young woman who was confined to her bed, paralyzed. Young boys were enjoying themselves playing football on the pasture beside her board-and-shingle home. As I entered her bedroom I was bowled over by what I saw.

Her small son was sitting by her bed – holding her hand. Not a word passed between them.  There I saw an intensity of love that defied description. This was sacrificial love on a grand scale – the little boy could have been outside with his friends and no-one would have blamed him!

Many a time Jesus put Himself out to be available to the sick – individuals and clamouring crowds. They sensed the compassion with which He gave so much of Himself to caring for them.

As disciples of Jesus we must make caring for the sick  a priority in all our pastoral ministry. We, and the Church to which we belong, will become lovable to the world if take to heart these words in the Book of Sirach (7.35)

‘Do not shrink from visiting the sick; in this way you will make yourself loved.’

Did not Jesus need loving companions simply to be there with Him in Gethsemane and on Calvary? What meant so much to Him then He now wants us to do for the sick. We are to follow the example of that little boy who had to be at the bedside of his mother. His loving concern must have been such a healing consolation to her!

Jesus wants us to know He could see Himself in the in the person of that mother in love-scene in the small house in the tropical island of Grenada.

‘I was sick and you visited me, you came to see me…"Lord, When did we find you sick and go to see you?...In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Matt. 25). 

Jesus must have loved that little boy, so very, very much!

With the help of St. James we Catholics now find greater richness and a profound spirituality, in the sick being visited. He writes,

‘ Anyone of you who is ill should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up again; and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5).

This, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, is for those who are seriously sick, but not necessarily close to death.  Through this Sacrament Jesus accompanies them as they travel on the sometimes agonizing journey of life. Perhaps for many years theirs will be the peace that Jesus promised - peace that the world cannot give. 

Jesus wants them to enjoy the serenity of looking forward to eventually meeting Him face to face in Heaven. It does happen that receiving this Sacrament sick people experience less pain; sometimes they are completely cured.

Many a time have the  family and friends gathered around the bed told me how much they have been comforted and consoled as they have shared in the loving prayers the Church has offered for their ailing, perhaps dying, loved ones.

The priest must be called once it is known that someone is gravely ill. Those we know to be grievously sick have the right to receive the Sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick, Reconciliation, and, above all, Holy Communion. 

Also, those Catholics who are confined to their homes have the right to be regularly visited and have Holy Communion brought to them.

Permanent Deacons and Eucharistic Ministers love the Corporal Work of Mercy of  Visiting the Sick. They count it as a wonderful privilege to bring to the sick Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  

To my mind, during this Jubilee Year of Mercy the Local Church  alert priests, parishes, families and neighbours to their duty of ensuring that the spiritual needs of the ailing and the frail are not neglected. 

Let us pray

 

Almighty Father,

Long ago you promised that you would never forget your People. You had carved them on the palm of your hand! Your beloved Son, Jesus, promised his Apostles he would be with them until the end of time. He even told them they must love one another as he had loved them. He was prepared to lay down his life for them and for the whole of mankind.

We shall always need this merciful caring love; but especially at those times when we are most insecure, most vulnerable, most in distress, when we are sick.

Through this Corporal Work of Mercy you are calling all of us to be sensitive to the anguish of others; to be a loving presence to them; to be responsive to their needs.

Almighty Father, we beg you to help us to our step outside our personal agendas, our personal problems, fears and anxieties. Mould our hearts so that no-one, especially members of our families and circle of friends, may feel meaningless to us, worthless to us, nothing to us. Prompt us to keep in touch with them, visit them, when they were sick, distressed.

May we welcome your calling us to be your ambassadors attentive to the physical and spiritual needs your beloved children when they sick. Amen

For the sake of His Sacred Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

 

Peter Clarke O.P

    

THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY 3

 

3.  CLOTHING THE NAKED

"I was naked and you clothed me,"  (Mtt. 25 36).

I was wretched in my nakedness and you relieved me from my misery.

Immediately I think of the homeless people who are exposed to the weather – with its biting cold for some and for others its fierce heat. Some have nothing to wrap around their bodies to protect them from snow, ice, and rain. Others who live in equatorial deserts need to be completely covered against the scorching sun and the harsh battering of sandstorms.

This Corporal Work of Mercy is about being sensitive to the needs, the feeling of the abjectly poor. And this was stated forcibly in the Book of Leviticus written several thousand years ago. Here the Lord God requires that,

"If you take someone's cloak in pledge, you will return it to him at sunset.   It is all the covering he has; it is all the covering he all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else will he sleep in?   If he appeals to me, I shall listen.   

AT LEAST WITH ME HE WILL FIND COMPASSION!"

Exodus 22.26.

The one with the cloak must first find this compassion in himself; be able to recognize how awful it must be to suffer what he’s going through; and then conclude, ‘If there’s any decency in me, any humanity in me, I must give him back his cloak…even though I would lose on the transaction.’

As far we are concerned, here and now, at any time anyone of us is liable to be approached by someone telling us he or she has no clothes, other than those being worn at the present moment– begging, pleading, for clothes.

God only knows when he last experienced wearing refreshing, clean clothes. Who could ever be comfortable living in stale, shabby, stinking garments? Think of the pain, the humiliation, of knowing people are uncomfortable about having you around …on the public transport, in shopping malls - even in church. The sheer misery of being despised, rejected, never respected!

With Christ-like compassion we must enter into the very soul of the one who needs clothing….needs far more than that ---a sense of personal wholesomeness that gives him the confidence to join the company of other human beings. Some deep soul-searching is needed on our part. Do I really want to help this or any other person? Why should I?

The easiest way to avoid ever becoming involved is to be so disagreeable as to give myself the reputation that it’s a waste of time approaching me! The very opposite to this is for me to offer friendship, show respect, be generous with my precious time. I must be prepared to dip into my pocket if I can’t put my hands on available clothes. I must be prepared to make a personal sacrifice and do this willingly, not resentfully, not grudgingly.

Jesus speaks to me now through His parable about the Last Judgement.  There as King, He claims. 

                    

     "I was naked and you clothed me...Then the upright will say to Him in reply,  'Lord, when did we        see you naked and clothe you?  And the King will answer,  "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did     this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me."

This being so, Jesus will say to me,

"Come,, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared from you since the foundation of the world," (Mtt. 25).

Pope Francis, through this Jubilee Year of Mercy,  is demanding of us, as Church and as individuals such a conversion experience that we treat the needy  as Jesus would have treated them; as we would treat Jesus – not as nuisances, not with revulsion,  but as brothers, sisters - with godly compassion, mercy, love.                              

 

Let us pray, 

Almighty Father,

You do not judge a man by appearances, but read what is in heart! With shame we confess to you that when we see a man faded, ragged clothes we label him as a tramp or vagrant.  To us he is worthless. If he approaches us we count him as a nuisance who going to beg us for something, food, clothing, money. We justify ourselves to ourselves and to others in having nothing to do with him.

Lord, we need your help. It is part of our culture to be contemptuous of  such people. This judgmental, dismissive attitude is even well-lodged in our church-going mentality.   

We pray that you will cleanse us of these ugly dispositions. Give us the grace to see other people as you them; to treat them with compassion and respect. Free us from that meanness that makes us reluctant to part  with any of our possessions.  

Almighty Father, their needs are for their survival; ours  for our convenience!

Almighty Father, we pray that you will build up the self-confidence of these street people. Provide for them the opportunities to become self-reliant and the pride, the self-respect, to break free of their total dependence   on others. 

Amen.   

For the sake of His Sacred Passion have mercy on us                       and on the whole world.

Peter Clarke O.P.