Works of Mercy
By Casey Sprehe
Perform the Works of Mercy, the Church instructs us. Often, in the throes of motherhood, I think, when will I have time to do that? But then, I realize, the moments and opportunities are endless.
When I’m taking care of respiratory issues of my asthmatic child, I’m not thinking, “Oh, I’m comforting the sick.”
I often think as I’m changing the seventh diaper of the day for the baby, “Am I really doing great things for the Kingdom?” Then the still small voice says, “clothe the naked.”
As I’m saying for the fifth time before lunch, “No you don’t hit someone to get what you want,” I hear, instruct the ignorant. As I stand in my kitchen and seemingly continue to dole out food because someone is always hungry, I hear “feed the hungry.”
It’s much easier for me to give clothes to Veterans of America and clothe the naked.
It’s much easier for me to hand the man out of my car window a pack of crackers and feed the hungry.
It’s easier for me to visit a nursing home to comfort those who mourn.
And, while those are all good acts, those aren’t hard for me.
I’m being pruned in virtue in my ordinary life when I perform “works of mercy” within the walls of my home. To the extent that I can see Christ in my husband and kids is the extent to which Christ can answer that I did see Him hungry, naked and thirsty.
I loved Casey Sprehe’s article on “Mercy.” Not only should we look for opportunities to show mercy out in the world, but there are also ample opportunities right in our own lives.