Reflection on Spiritual Works of Mercy for Jubilee Year of Mercy

Last week, reflecting on the Holy Father's document on extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy we reflected on the Corporal Works of Mercy. Today let's reflect on Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Admonish Sinners. Correction is sometime as hard to give as it is to take. It means standing up for moral principles at work, at school, in politics, or in the home. It means taking time to give needed correction, especially to children.

Instruct the Uninformed. Not everyone can be a schoolteacher, but taking time out to help a child with math, or spelling, or religion homework is instruction, as well. So is showing the ropes to a new person at work, teaching CCD, and reminding oneself and one's family about basic morality.

Counsel the Doubtful. Advice is cheap, but counsel implies something more loving. It's a Christian approach to solving problems. Doubts about one's faith, about abortion, marriage, or questions arising from death or divorce do not need a brush-off with a lame excuse. Doubts need instruction in the Christian point of view.

Comfort the Sorrowful. Sorrow and suffering take many forms: death, family problems, divorce, unemployment, grave illness, mental distress, surgery, etc. How many of these sorrows afflict the people around us and yet go unnoticed without so much as a kind word? Sometimes giving a sympathetic ear or just being with a sorrowing person is a great act of mercy.

Bear Wrongs Patiently. Strive for patience with small children or the chronic complaints of the elderly. Try patience with the slowness of the freeway traffic. Maintain patience with those who never say a kind word. Have patience with your own personal pain and suffering.

Forgive Offenses. Forgive the sharp criticism so thoughtlessly said. Physical injuries heal faster than mental or spiritual ones; dwelling on a wrong only increases its size, breeding hatred, the antithesis of Christ's love. Injuries, voluntary or involuntary, are inescapable; forgiveness heals them.

Pray for the Living and the Dead. It is impossible to physically aid the many people who need our help. But we can reach out to them in prayer. All people, dead or alive, benefit from a remembrance in prayer, including those praying.