"I demand deed of mercy"

Our Lord Speaks:
     

I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for Me.  You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere.  You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.  I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:  the first, by deed.  The second, by word.  The third, by prayer.  In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me.  By this means a soul glorifies and pays a reverence to My mercy.”  (Diary of Saint Faustina, #742)

Our Lord Speaks:

 Write this for the many souls who are often worried to carry out an act of mercy.  Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permission or storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.  If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment.  Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.”  (#1317)

The Spiritual Works of Mercy
    1.  Admonish sinners.   2.  Instruct the uninformed.   3.  Counsel the doubtful.   4.  Comfort the sorrowful.   5.  Bear wrongs patiently.   6.  Forgive offenses.   7.  Pray for the living and the dead.
Corporal Works of Mercy
    1.  Feed the hungry.   2.  Give drink to the thirsty.   3.  Clothe the naked.   4.  Shelter the homeless.   5.  Comfort the imprisoned.   6.  Visit the sick.   7.  Bury the dead.

Missing the Mark
 Do we sometimes look for the great deeds of mercy and look over the little deeds that we can do with great love...Do we overlook our children who need our help, to spend hours upon hours helping others while our children are falling apart...Do we help in all the parish functions while our wife is at home wanting some time with her husband?

Yes, there are works of mercy around your house like changing a diaper, rocking your child to sleep, teaching them how to ride their bike, praying a family rosary, helping with homework, cooking dinner, and for each deed you do you say to yourself, “I do this for love of you, Jesus.”

Corporal Works of Mercy

1.  Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty. Take the children to the soup kitchen to work. Take children grocery shopping for the poor.
2.  Clothe the naked. Our Savior tells us that if a person has two coats, he should give one away. Excess clothing can be donated to clothing drives, local refugee groups.
3.  Shelter the homeless. The unemployed living in cars or abandoned tunnels are in desperate need of help, both material and spiritual. Aging relatives may be just as homeless when they leave their homes for rest homes. Take the family and visit the elderly in the rest homes.
4.  Comfort the imprisoned. Visiting prisoners is a beautiful thing, but, some are prisoners in their own home.  The handicapped, the sick, the elderly, the new mother. For them, comfort can be a quick visit to say, “I love you.”
5.  Visit the sick. This is very hard with such a busy schedule to visit the sick, but for the person being visited, that time you give is very precious to them.
6.  Bury the dead. Personal expression of sympathy include a hug, or handshake, or a donation of food. Offer a Mass for the loved one. Pray for their soul. Remember we are supposed to support the living in their sorrow.

Spiritual Works of Mercy

1.  Admonish sinners. To correct someone can be as hard. It means standing up for moral principles at work, at school, in politics, or in the home. It is not telling someone how much you know about  the Bible, but for sticking up for the truth. By doing this we are protecting children.
2.  Instruct the uninformed. Not everyone can be a school teacher, priest, or religious leader, but we
can remind our family of basic morality. We are all called to be a priestly people and to evangelize to the four corners of the earth.
3.  Counsel the doubtful. Advice is cheap, but counseling  someone is more loving. Doubts about one’s faith, about abortion, marriage, or questions arising from death or divorce, do not need a “brush-off.” Doubts need direction from a Christian approach.
4.  Comfort the sorrowful. Death, divorce, grave illness, unemployment, family problems, mental distress, and surgery. How many of these sorrows afflict people around you and go unnoticed without a simple hug, or a kind word, or without  a simple prayer for them? Sometimes just spending time with them and making them laugh is a great sign of love.
5.  Bear wrongs patiently.  Complaints of elderly, freeway traffic, drudgery of a job, those who never say a kind word—all require patience. Strive for patience. Offer a simple smile and say a prayer for them.
6.  Forgive offenses. Sharp criticism, physical injuries, someone talking about your child, death by a drunken driver, needs much forgiveness. Dwelling on a wrong only increases its size and breeding hatred will only lead to hatred of oneself. Forgiveness heals everything.
7.  Pray for the living and the dead. It is impossible to reach everyone, even those in our own family, but we can reach out to them in prayer. All people, dead or alive, benefit from a remembrance in prayer. There is no greater gift than to offer a Mass up for a soul in purgatory or a friend still living.

Our Lord Speaks:
Write this for the many souls who are often worried to carry out an act of mercy.  Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permission or storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.  If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment.  Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.”  (#1317)

Pray much as a family. Pray the rosary as a family for the conversion of the world. Go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Visit Jesus for He is the great doctor. Study scripture as a family. Study your Catechism