Living Catholicism: Love of Neighbor: The Spiritual Works of Mercy

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December 21, 2004

Love of Neighbor: The Spiritual Works of Mercy

Building up your spiritual life and developing good habits is a necessity for us all. The Church enables us on this mission by providing a list of charitable works of mercy that help us increase our love of neighbor and improve the state of our soul.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are (CCC 2447):

Convert the Sinner. Of course, the Holy Spirit actually does the converting, but we participate by pointing those we know toward God.
Instruct the Ignorant. This assumes that we are not ignorant – it puts the burden of learning on us, so we can instruct those who have misconceptions about God.
Counsel the Doubtful. Love of others starts with concern for their souls. By helping others have faith, we increase our faith.
Comfort the Sorrowful. In a fallen world, there is much sorrow. By taking the time to comfort those who grieve and suffer, we help them to see God in the world.
Bear Wrongs Patiently. This is perhaps the toughest issue for most of us, but it goes directly to Christ: Turn the other cheek.
Forgive Injuries. Not only must we bear wrongs and injuries, we must forgive those who inflict them on us. True forgiveness requires work on our own soul and a solid love of God.
Pray for the Living and the Dead. This is an easier work and requires just time – take a minute in your daily prayer to pray for those who have died and those who struggle for God (or don’t)! We should all be doing this anyway.

The goal is to develop the Spiritual Works of Mercy into habit, a way of life that animates every act and every contact with others. If you are a parent, you start with a captive audience ready for instruction, counsel, and comfort. But even so, we must be open to God’s Will – If we have an opportunity to help others, the Spiritual Works of Mercy are likely involved.

Personally, the key for me is focusing on each person as an individual creation of Christ. No matter what that person is doing now, s/he was created by God for a specific reason. And you were put in their path for a reason as well. Trust in God and remember the Spiritual Works of Mercy.

God bless,
Jay

Posted by HolyFamily at December 21, 2004 9:40 PM