{"id":1049,"date":"2012-08-16T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T06:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2012-08-16T00:00:32","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T06:00:32","slug":"works-of-mercy-body-and-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/catholic\/works-of-mercy-body-and-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Works of Mercy Body and Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"New<\/a>
New Jerusalem by Gustave Dore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The corporal works of mercy are expressed in the gospels in the section titled Judgment of the Nations (Matthew 25:31-36<\/span>). Jesus explained the final judgment in what is often referred to as a parable but which is closer to a metaphor. The Spiritual works of mercy are like the Corporal works but they attend to the spirit rather than the body. There is a parallel between the two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Corporal works of mercy<\/th>\nThe spiritual works of mercy<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Feed the hungry<\/td>\n\u2022 Instruct the ignorant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Give drink to the thirsty<\/td>\n\u2022 Counsel the doubtful<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Clothe the naked<\/td>\n\u2022 Admonish sinners<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Harbour the harbourless<\/td>\n\u2022 Bear wrongs patiently<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Visit the sick<\/td>\n\u2022 Forgive offences willingly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Ransom captives<\/td>\n\u2022 Comfort the afflicted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2022 Bury the dead<\/td>\n\u2022 Pray for the living and dead<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

– Instructing the ignorant or catechizing is like feeding the hungry because God\u2019s word is food for the soul. Recall how Jesus three times asked Peter to \u201cfeed my sheep,\u201d this applies to both the liturgy of the Eucharist, which is actual food for the body and soul, and the liturgy of the word, which is food for the heart and mind.<\/p>\n

– Council is like water for the soul; refreshing and renewing the person who drinks it.<\/p>\n

– Admonishing sinners is like clothing the naked because in sin we are robbed of our robe of innocence as Adam and Eve were. Recall that in their sin they discovered they were naked (Genesis 3:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

– Bearing wrongs with patience shelters Christ in your heart. Recall that Jesus had said during His ministry, \u201cthe foxes have holes and the birds their nets but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head.\u201d (Matthew 8:20<\/span> , Luke 9:58<\/span>)<\/p>\n

– Forgiving offenses heals those wounded by their transgressions.<\/p>\n

– To give comfort is to rescue those who feel imprisoned by suffering.<\/p>\n

– Prayer for the dead expiates sins and moves the poor and holy souls closer to their final rest, like burying the dead.<\/p>\n

It would be mistake to think that that the only thing that matters in Christian action is whether or not the hungry are fed, the homeless are sheltered, and the naked clothed. Rather it is important, if not equally important, to feed, shelter and cloth the soul with love. If you ask a hungry person what mattered most to him\/her when receiving charity, you may find some who are satisfied when their bellies are full but I imagine most feel truly satisfied when they see the eyes of Christ in the faces and actions of others. That\u2019s because the things of the body help us to discover the things of the spirit. And what the body is, the soul is in magnification. The soul knows a hunger that the flesh cannot claim to match. Food staves hunger, water quenches thirst, and shelter protects the body, but who staves, quenches and protects the soul? The only thing that satisfies the soul is its true mate, Jesus. As Saint Augustine said, \u201cOur hearts are restless oh Lord until they rest in thee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note: This posting occurs on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, who is the archetype of the Church and Sign of Hope. For this reason I have chosen to use the image of the New Jerusalem, which is also the Church Triumphant after the Judgement (of the nations).<\/small><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>Matthew 25:31-36<\/span>
View in: NAB<\/a> Vulg<\/a> Greek<\/a><\/span><\/div>
31<\/span>And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty.<\/div>
32<\/span>And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats:<\/div>
33<\/span>And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.<\/div>
34<\/span>Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.<\/div>
35<\/span>For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:<\/div>
36<\/span>Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>Genesis 3:7<\/span>
View in: NAB<\/a> Vulg<\/a> Hebrew<\/a><\/span><\/div>
7<\/span>And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>Matthew 8:20<\/span>
View in: NAB<\/a> Vulg<\/a> Greek<\/a><\/span><\/div>
20<\/span>And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>Luke 9:58<\/span>
View in: NAB<\/a> Vulg<\/a> Greek<\/a><\/span><\/div>
58<\/span>Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

The corporal works of mercy are expressed in the gospels in the section titled Judgment of the Nations (Matthew 25:31-36). Jesus explained the final judgment in what is often referred to as a parable but which is closer to a metaphor. The Spiritual works of mercy are like the Corporal works but they attend to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1049"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1079,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicbookwriter.com\/goldenarrow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}