THE YEAR OF MERCY

“The world needs mercy but does not even

realise it” John Paul 11

We need a church capable of re-discovering the maternal womb of

mercy

Pope Francis

Imagine a world without mercy - a CIA world

Cold

Cruel

Callous

Calculating

Critical

Individualistic

Isolated

Insecure

Intolerant

Indifferent

Angry Apathetic

Anxious

Afraid

Antagonistic Armed

Imagine a world with mercy :

W - welcoming and warm

A - alive, affectionate, accepting

R - restored, renewed, refreshed

M - merciful, magnanimous,

T - tender and trusting

H - healing, hope, happiness

HEAVEN ON

EARTH

“I have asked the church to re-discover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy ... the concrete signs of mercy as Jesus taught.”

Misericordiae Vultus

What does love look like?

Love has hands to help others

It has eyes to see misery and want

It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of others

That’s what love looks like.

St Augustine

The Corporal Works of

Mercy

MERCY

IS

MINISTRY

TO THE

MARGINALISED

• To feed the hungry• To give drink to the thirsty • To clothe the naked• To visit the sick

• To welcome the stranger• To visit the imprisoned • To bury the dead.

This is the way we reach out

to the poor and those in need- particularly material

and physical needs.

The disadvantaged and disabled

The homeless and those written off

Those who don’t fit in and the lonely

The strangers and the migrants

The forgotten and the neglected

Those in real need and the feckless

FEED THE HUNGRY

• Support food banks and drop-in centres • Support Cafod - against hunger • Avoid wasting food

What can we

do?

GIVE DRINK TO THE THIRSTY

• support Cafod’s campaign for wells• look at different kinds of thirst – for friendship, company, information: what can we do?• help people to ‘belong’ and meet their needs

Woman died of thirst in hospital

Have I ever known real thirst?

SHELTER THE HOMELESS AND WELCOME THE STRANGER

• Is there a drop-in shelter near you?

• Migrants and asylum seekers?

• Housing for low-income people

• How can we change attitudes of suspicion?

How can we help?

VISIT THE IMPRISONED

• Prison visiting?

• support for prisoners’ families

• other forms of imprisonment – housebound, chronic illness etc

Who are the imprisoned?

CLOTHE THE NAKED • Go through your drawers and wardrobes and see what you can do without - donate to charities • Knit blankets, shawls, balaclavas for seamen

• Support the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

What can I do without?

VISIT THE SICK

• Spend quality time with those who are sick or housebound

• Send a card or an e-mail to someone who is sick;

• Accompany a friend to a medical appointment

Have I got time to visit someone?

BURY THE DEAD

• Participate in a bereavement ministry;

• Send sympathy cards to families of those who have died.

• Make sure mourners are supported at funerals

• A card to remind them of the service

Can I pray for the dead and their families?

At the end, we will be judged on how well we have fulfilled the works of mercy.

Christ’s words in Matt 25:

“Come you whom my Father has blessed; take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you ......

For I was hungry...thirsty..a stranger...naked ....sick....in prison.

WHEN LORD?

As long as you did it to the least of my brethren you did it to me

Lord, help me to be more like your Son; help me to see others as he did; when they are hungry, may I feed them;When thirsty, give them a drink; When I see the poor, give them hospitality and help to clothe them.Give me the courage to come to the aid of those imprisoned in mind or body;And Lord, give me the compassion to bury the dead and to console the afflicted.Help me Lord, to be your Son to others.