Developing Works of Mercy in Prayer Groups

Montligeon’s third pillar

The objectives given by Bp. Buguet, the founder of Montligeon, to prayer groups comprise three dimensions. The first one is the dimension of prayer, which generally is properly fulfilled by the groups. The second one is the aspect of teaching, completed through our magazine Chemin d’éternité, including special supplements for groups, our website, videos, texts, as well as visits that we try to do in parishes or dioceses. All of these contributes to training the faithful. However, our weaker point sometimes is the works of charity, more specifically the works of mercy.

Therefore, I would like to stress out that third pillar. We are quite familiar with the works of corporal mercy, since they are clearly stated in the Gospel. However, there are also the works of spiritual mercy, which should not be overlooked. As a starting point, I would initiate this reflection from a word of Christ as reported by St. Luke:

“Be merciful as your Father is merciful.” ^[1]

In my view, these are very precious words. In St. Matthews the call has a different wording: “Be perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect.” Perfection may seem to be on a higher, more intimidating level, whereas mercy provides us with a more practical access to God. As a result, mercy is not a less important theme. It is a very real path to enter in the very life of God.

Loving in Deed and in Truth

St. John has rather strong words in his first letter to phrase this demand: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” And then he adds:

“Little children, let us not love with words and tongue, but in deed and truth.” ^[2]

The sentence is strong, almost cutting. It touches us directly. Indeed, if I am honest, I can recognize moments in my own life when I did not open my womb. Besides, this text does not keep us in mere abstraction. It forces us to consider concrete situations.

In this very place, in this parish, in the room where we are sitting now, a meal for forty to fifty people is served every Sunday to homeless persons. Next to it is a kitchen. Some volunteers take turns to welcome and serve them. This is a very concrete work of mercy. What is striking is that those people sometimes come to request confession or say that they will come to Mass. I find this very evangelical. Besides, the person responsible for this work has also created flat-sharing with very vulnerable people, as part of the project Lazare. That’s not simple, that’s not without effort. Yet, it’s beautiful;

I am also thinking of this widow, a very generous woman who had been giving shelter in her own home to two alcoholics. It was an admirable action. Now her children would say to her: “Mom, we wish we had some Sundays to spend with you still!” Which means that charity demands some kind of fairness. Whilst involving our whole being, it does not exempt us from discernment.

Isaiah and the demands of the heart

To understand what the Bible was putting forward, I looked up the prophet Isaiah first. In particular this passage that we read during Lent. Isaiah talks to believers who fast but whose practice has become a bit of a show-off. In the past, in the Jewish society, those religious actions were quite normal. Whereas nowadays, fasting on Lent is nearly heroic. Yet the bottom line remains the same: one may accomplish penance actions with their heart not really in them. So Isaiah gets us to consider things differently. He does not suppress fasting but he shows the fasting which is preferred by God.

Such fasting consists in:

Undo the unjust chains, untie the yoke; set the oppressed free, and break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to shelter the homeless poor in your home, if you see a naked man, to clothe him, not to shrink from him who is your own flesh? Then your light will shine like the dawn, your wound will heal quickly, your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will cry out and the Lord will answer; you will call out and he will say: Here I am.^[3]

In other words, religious practice opens onto actions of mercy. Feeding, welcoming, clothing, healing, setting free, such are the actions repeated several times by Jesus. I see a very simple call in them. We cannot do everything. On the other hand we can choose one particular work and try to stick to it. Isaiah does not lock us inside impossible tasks, he opens a path. Therefore, mercy often start with one step, limited yet real. It is generated in a heart which consents to letting itself be moved.

Mercy in the New Testament

The New Testament develops and deepens this teaching. St. Paul writes to the Colossians:

“Bear with one another and forgive one another“. ^[4]

Forgiveness and mutual support are presented here as real works of mercy. In practical terms, it means that in a parish, in a team or in a group preparing other people to baptism, I may find myself having to work with the most unbearable person I know. However, this situation may become a place of sanctification even though I am not – or others are not – aware of it. The initial Christian communities were not ideal. For example, Corinth was a melting pot, a place of trouble in the port. Yet it is where the Gospel materialized.

The Acts of the Apostles also present the first Christian community as a place of sharing: those who owned land or houses sold their estate, and each one received according to their need. The sharing of goods and a certain solidarity were thus encouraged. Next comes the figure of Cornelius, a pagan centurion described as “pious and God-fearing”. Even before his baptism, he had been praying and giving alms to the people. His prayers and alms went up before God. This shows that a soul can already be worked up by grace, even before fully entering the Church.

Finally, the letter to the Hebrews exhorts:

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have been hospitable to angels without knowing it.”^[5]

Hospitality, caring for the poor, fraternal support, prayer and alms are one and same face for mercy.

Another biblical text deserves our attention. After Steven’s stoning, the Acts specifically mention that pious men buried him and had a great lament over him. We can identify an essential work of mercy here, i.e. taking care of the dead. In the ancient times, leaving a body unburied was sheer infamy. In Rome, this was even a way to humiliate persecuted Christians. It was said that young girls like St. Agnes and St. Emerance had been careful to bury the martyrs. They were sentence to death themselves for this charitable action. However it was not an optional gesture, it was fully part of Christian charity.

Recognizing Christ in the poor

Next, we have the Gospel of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25. This great text lists the works of corporal mercy, like feeding the hungry, giving of drink to the thirsty, giving hospitality to strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting the prisoners. The work of burial for the dead was added later on because it could not be part of the scene of the Judgment. What I find astonishing in the parable is the surprise expressed by the righteous and the godless alike. All ask: when did we see you…? The Lord’s reply is key: the encounter with Christ took place through “one of these little ones”.

This was very clear to St. Martin when he split his cloak to give it to a poor man in Amiens. One part of the story which is less known is when Christ appeared to him the following day, wearing the half-cloak he had shared. That’s why this Gospel is read on St. Martin’s day. Which means that, clearly, in small charitable actions, the one we meet is Christ. In a worldly sense, there is nothing special about these actions, they are just simple, accessible little deeds although they are driven by immense presence.

Works of spiritual mercy

Works of spiritual mercy are often less known. Yet they are very valuable, especially for us as we bear the living and the dead in prayer. Deriving from corporal works, the Christian tradition gradually interpreted them as potentially spiritual. Feeding the hungry could also mean teaching faith; giving drink is also addressing inner thirst; clothing the naked was understood by some Fathers of the Church as providing the clothes of virtues, such as faith, hope and charity.

St. Thomas Aquinas provide a helpful classification for them. On the one hand, there are those deprived of inner help and on the other those deprived of outer help. As part as inner help, God’s help must be provided first, like teaching faith, testifying the Gospel, praying for the living and the dead. These are already very concrete works of mercy that we can easily do, even when our external action is limited by age, ill health or life conditions. Next, we have advising those in doubt and warning the sinner, –humbly though, without looking down on others. Pride may sneak everywhere, even in spiritual counseling.

In terms of external help, we may comfort the afflicted, forgive offense and “patiently endure difficult people”. This latter work is magnificent even if it is not the easiest one. It takes us back to our daily lives. All in all, such spiritual works are not as conspicuous as corporal works but they deeply enlighten Christian life. Getting to know them is a good idea, both for our own sake and to help others.

Practicing mercy

All this may seem a little theoretical if we regard it only as a list. However, I think our key take-away should be the following: works of mercy are not beyond our reach. They require realism, humility, discernment, and sometimes just constant fidelity. We don’t have to do everything. On the contrary, we can choose one or other of these works and start practicing it.

This is a particularly important perspective for us in Montligeon. Praying for the deceased and for the living is part of the works of spiritual mercy. Consoling the afflicted, providing support to those in mourning, teaching faith, helping the wavering ones –all of these things partake of the same evangelical approach. This means that praying for the dead is not separate from charity, it is part of it. It provides God’s help to other people.

Let’s remember this: mercy leads us to Christ, because it teaches us to recognize him in the poor, in the afflicted, in the sinner, in the dead brother or sister entrusted to our prayer. And since the Beatitudes themselves are learned by practicing them, we can do the same here: choose a work, practice it, and ask the Lord to make our hearts more merciful.