RBWords - Volume 28 - Number 5: May 2015
Something to Think About
A few days ago I received an invitation to make three hour-long presentations to a group of Lay Minsters in training on how to inspire youth and young adults to do "the works of mercy." The presentations will take place in September in Salt Lake City, but I am already spinning the subject around in my head. It seems obvious to me that the organizers are picking up on Pope Francis' emphasis on the virtue of mercy which he proclaimed in his "apostolic exhortation" THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL" and his recent proclamation ("The Face of Mercy") of the extraordinary jubilee of mercy to begin next December. Certainly that can serve as a formal context, but I believe that the most important way to inspire youth and young adults is by living example. Nothing will come of my verbal efforts if the listeners nod politely and fail to act mercifully.
Although I am sure each of us can point to examples of "mercy" that inspire: Mother Teresa's work in Calcutta or Dorothy Day's work in New York, I would hope that we can look locally. In fact, I would hope we can start with ourselves! How forgiving are we? When we see a street person coming toward us, do we cross to the other side? Are the poor and homeless merely abstractions in the newspaper?
Some of us who are a bit older can remember from the Baltimore Catechism the "spiritual" and "corporal" works of mercy. (You'll find them in brief in the newer CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH at #2447). Those might serve as a starting point for reflectionon mercy in our own lives. Our reflection can benefit from asking how we have been the recipients as well as the givers of mercy. I recommend reading Pope Francis' THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL as well. The living example will preach the loudest and the most effectively. IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
A Church which "goes forth" is a Church whose doors are open. Going oout to others in order to reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way. At times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open so that when the son returns, he can readily pass through it.
Pope Francis: THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL #46
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