Sunday, September 18, 2016

The works of mercy

I was in a church yesterday to go to confession. On one of the walls there were several banners, each with one of the corporal works of mercy on it. On the opposite wall were several other banners. I presumed they would be the spiritual works of mercy, but when I went over there to check it out, they also contained the corporal works of mercy!

I don't know the context, so I don't know why they chose to include the one and not the other. For all I know next week they are going to switch to the spiritual.

It felt funny to me, though, as if the corporal were the ones we should pay attention to. As if it is more important to feed the hungry than to admonish the sinner. I wager there are people who think that, but I also wager that it is not the mind of the Church.

1 comment:

Jane said...

I've been wondering the same thing! There seems to be much being made of the corporal works but have we heard of the spiritual works? Not yet...

Thanks for your blogging - it's an oasis of sanity.