SPIRITUALITY OF

MERCY
What is
Mercy ?
"the compassion in our
hearts for another
person's misery, a
compassion which
drives us to do what
we can to help him."
MERCY?
For St. Thomas this
virtue has two aspects:
"affective" mercy and
"effective" mercy.
Affective/Effective
Affective mercy is an
emotion: the pity we
feel for the plight of
another.
Affective Mercy
Effective mercy is something
that we do, a positive action
for the good of another,
taking steps to relieve the
miseries or meet the needs
of others.

Effective Mercy
kinds of miseries
First, there is the suffering that goes
against our natural appetite for existence
and life, such as the misery of a sick man.
Secondly, there is suffering that strikes us
suddenly and unexpectedly, such as
sufferings arising from accidents.
The third kind of suffering, however, is the worst
of all: suffering that strikes a person when he
consistently pursues the good, yet he meets
only overpowering evil. (undeserved misery)
Authentic Virtue of Mercy
However, to be the authentic virtue of
"mercy," it must manifest two additional
characteristics.
First, it must be rooted in "right reason"-that
is, in the truth about the sufferings of others,
and what is in fact the objective "good" for the
other whom we seek to help.
Authentic Virtue of Mercy
Secondly, the virtue of mercy is proven in
effective action for the good of others, as
circumstances permit. If we merely
"sympathize" with the plight of another and
"share their pain" without making the best of
the opportunities we have to help them, then
virtue of mercy does not abide in us in any
significant degree.
How do we
respond to
these
sufferings?
A moral dilemna
Walter Cardinal Kasper on Mercy in the 21st Century

1. Through authentic mercy (effective

good actions, and affective right reason),
humanity shares with God’s merciful love.
Man manifests God’s existence.
Walter Cardinal Kasper on Mercy in the 21st Century

2. God is not a “sentimental, feel-good,

buddy-buddy God: divine mercy does not,
indeed, cannot ignore evil and sin.”
Walter Cardinal Kasper on Mercy in the 21st Century

3. Mercy is the root, the very condition of

the possibility of justice.
Walter Cardinal Kasper on Mercy in the 21st Century

4. “In his mercy, God … holds back his

justified wrath: indeed, he holds himself
back. He does this in order to provide people
with the opportunity for conversion. Divine mercy
grants sinners a period of grace and desires their
conversion. Mercy is ultimately grace for
conversion”
Do we act
with MERCY?
Or do we live in pleasure?
contemporary
moral dilemma
Hedonism? It is the ethical theory that
pleasure (in the sense of the
satisfaction of desires) is the highest
good and proper aim of human life.
contemporary
moral dilemma
Unaware of not wanting to confront
suffering, we evade it. We recourse not
to mercy but to this hedonistic ideal.
“AS LONG AS I’M HAPPY.” Pleasure then
becomes the end all and be all of life.
moral realities
Environmental
Degradation

Throw-away Culture is a human strongly

influenced by consumerism quickly reduces
things to rubbish. The term describes a
critical view of overconsumption and
excessive production of short-lived or
disposable items over durable goods that
can be repaired.
Environmental
Degradation

To cite one example, most of the paper we

produce is thrown away and not recycled. It is
hard for us to accept that the way natural
ecosystems work is exemplary: plants synthesize
nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn
become food for carnivores, which produce
significant quantities of organic waste which give
rise to new generations of plants. LS22
Environmental
Degradation

But our industrial system, at the end of its

cycle of production and consumption, has
not developed the capacity to absorb and
reuse waste and by-products. We have not
yet managed to adopt a circular model of
production capable of preserving resources
LS22
Circular Model
of Production
moral realities
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

EG 53. Just as the commandment “Thou

shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to
safeguard the value of human life, today we
also have to say “thou shalt not” to an
economy of exclusion and inequality.
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

How can it be that it is not a news item when

an elderly homeless person dies of exposure,
but it is news when the stock market loses
two points? This is a case of exclusion.
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

Can we continue to stand by when food is

thrown away while people are starving? This
is a case of inequality.
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

Today everything comes under the laws of

competition and the survival of the fittest,
where the powerful feed upon the
powerless. As a consequence, masses of
people find themselves excluded and
marginalized: without work, without
possibilities, without any means of escape.
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

Human beings are themselves considered

consumer goods to be used and then
discarded. We have created a “throw away”
culture which is now spreading. It is no
longer simply about exploitation and
oppression, but something new.
Social
Social
Degradation
Degradation

Human beings are themselves considered

consumer goods to be used and then
discarded. We have created a “throw away”
culture which is now spreading. It is no
longer simply about exploitation and
oppression, but something new, EXCLUSION.
moral realities
Culture
Culture
of
of relativism
relativism

LS 123. The culture of relativism is the

same disorder which drives one person to
take advantage of another, to treat others
as mere objects, imposing forced labour
on them or enslaving them to pay their
debts.
Culture
Culture
of
of relativism
relativism

In the absence of objective truths or

sound principles other than the
satisfaction of our own desires and
immediate needs, what limits can be
placed on human trafficking, organized
crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood
diamonds and the fur of endangered
species?
Culture
of relativism

Is it not the same relativistic logic which

justifies buying the organs of the poor for
resale or use in experimentation, or
eliminating children because they are not
what their parents wanted?
moral realities
Culture
of Ephemeral

AL 39. there is a cultural decline that fails

to promote love or self-giving.
(Viral Internet Posts . Here I think, for example, of the speed with which
people move from one affective relationship to another. They believe,
along the lines of social networks, that love can be connected or
disconnected at the whim of the consumer, and the relationship quickly
“blocked”. I think too of the fears associated with permanent
commitment, the obsession with free time, and those relationships that
weigh costs and benefits for the sake of remedying loneliness, providing
protection, or offering some service.
Culture
of Ephemeral

We treat affective relationships the way

we treat material objects and the
environment: everything is disposable;
everyone uses and throws away, takes
and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the
last drop. Then, goodbye.
SUMMARY
Moral Realities
1. Environmental
Degradation
2. Social Degradation
3. Culture of Relativism
4. Culture of Ephemeral
What can we do?
1. Live out the Spirituality of Truth
and Mercy.
a. Mercy is the compassion in our
hearts for another person's
misery, a compassion which
drives us to do what we can to
help him.
b. Mercy must have these
characteristics:
i. Affective
ii. Effective
iii. Right Reason/ objective good
iv. Effective action for the good of
others
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Seat Work

In ½ sheet of paper, evaluate

the vlog. Is Basel really having
mercy, both affective and
effective, to the people?
Why?

39
SPIRITUALITY OF

MERCY
LIVING, “THE PRIMACY OF MERCY”

CULTURE OF CARE REVISITING THE UNLEASING THE

VS THROW-AWAY WORKS OF MERCY CREATIVITY OF
CULTURE (Social & MERCY
Environmental
Degradation)

41
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• EG 193. We incarnate the duty of hearing

the cry of the poor when we are deeply
moved by the suffering of others. Let us
listen to what God’s word teaches us about
mercy, and allow that word to resound in
the life of the Church. The Gospel tells us:
“Blessed are the merciful, because they
shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7).

42
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• EG 193. The apostle James teaches that our

mercy to others will vindicate us on the day
of God’s judgment: “So speak and so act as
those who are to be judged under the law
of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to
one who has shown no mercy, yet mercy
triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:12-13).

43
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• EG 193. “Break off your sins by practising

righteousness, and your iniquities by showing
mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps
be a lengthening of your tranquillity” (Dan 4:27).
The wisdom literature sees almsgiving as a
concrete exercise of mercy towards those in need:
“Almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge
away every sin” (Tob 12:9). “Water extinguishes
blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin” (Sir 3:30)
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CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• EG 193. This truth greatly influenced the thinking

of the Fathers of the Church and helped create a
prophetic, counter-cultural resistance to the self-
centred hedonism of paganism.

45
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• LS 231. Love, overflowing with small gestures of

mutual care, is also civic and political, and it
makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build
a better world. Love for society and commitment to
the common good are outstanding expressions of a
charity which affects not only relationships
between individuals but also “macro-relationships,
social, economic and political ones”.

46
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• LS 231. That is why the Church set before the

world the ideal of a “civilization of love”.[157]
Social love is the key to authentic development: “In
order to make society more human, more worthy
of the human person, love in social life – political,
economic and cultural – must be given renewed
value, becoming the constant and highest norm
for all activity”.

47
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• LS 231. When we feel that God is calling us to

intervene with others in these social dynamics, we
should realize that this too is part of our spirituality,
which is an exercise of charity and, as such,
matures and sanctifies us.

48
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

•Throw-away culture
impacts our elderly.

49
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• AL 191. “Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent” (Ps
71:9).

50
CULTURE OF CARE
VS THROW-AWAY CULTURE (Social & Environmental Degradation)

• AL 191. This is the plea of the elderly, who fear

being forgotten and rejected. Just as God asks us
to be his means of hearing the cry of the poor, so
too he wants us to hear the cry of the elderly.211
This represents a challenge to families and
communities, since “the Church cannot and does
not want to conform to a mentality of impatience,
and much less of indifference and contempt,
towards old age.
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LIVING, “THE PRIMACY OF MERCY”

CULTURE OF CARE REVISITING THE UNLEASING THE

VS THROW-AWAY WORKS OF MERCY CREATIVITY OF
CULTURE (Social & MERCY
Environmental
Degradation)

52
REVISITING THE WORKS OF MERCY

• CCC 2447 The works of mercy are

charitable actions by which we come to the
aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and
bodily necessities (corporal).

53
REVISITING THE WORKS OF MERCY

• CCC 2447 The works of mercy are

charitable actions by which we come to the
aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and
bodily necessities (corporal).

54
REVISITING THE WORKS OF MERCY

• Spiritual Works of Mercy

• 1. instructing
• 2. advising
• 3. consoling
• 4. comforting
• 5. forgiving
• 6. bearing wrongs patiently.

55
REVISITING THE WORKS OF MERCY

Corporal Works of Mercy

• 1. feeding the hungry
• 2. giving drink to the thirsty
• 3. sheltering the homeless
• 4. clothing the naked
• 5. visiting the sick
• 6. visiting the imprisoned
• 7. burying the dead

56
REVISITING THE WORKS OF MERCY

• CCC 2447 Among all these, giving alms to the poor is

one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is
also a work of justice pleasing to God:243 He who
has two coats, let him share with him who has none
and he who has food must do likewise.244 But give
for alms those things which are within; and behold,
everything is clean for you.245 If a brother or sister
is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you
says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled,"
without giving them the things needed for the body,
what does it profit?246
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LIVING, “THE PRIMACY OF MERCY”

CULTURE OF CARE REVISITING THE UNLEASING THE

VS THROW-AWAY WORKS OF MERCY CREATIVITY OF
CULTURE (Social & MERCY
Environmental
Degradation)

58
UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

• MetM 18. In our own day, whole peoples suffer hunger and thirst, and
we are haunted by pictures of children with nothing to eat. Throngs of
people continue to migrate from one country to another in search of
food, work, shelter and peace. Disease in its various forms is a constant
cause of suffering that cries out for assistance, comfort and support.
Prisons are often places where confinement is accompanied by serious
hardships due to inhumane living conditions. Illiteracy remains
widespread, preventing children from developing their potential and
exposing them to new forms of slavery. The culture of extreme
individualism, especially in the West, has led to a loss of a sense of
solidarity with and responsibility for others. Today many people have
no experience of God himself, and this represents the greatest poverty
and the major obstacle to recognizing the inviolable dignity of human
life.

59
UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

• MetM 18. …the corporal and spiritual

works of mercy continue in our own day to
be proof of mercy’s immense positive
influence as a social value. Mercy impels us
to roll up our sleeves and set about restoring
dignity to millions of people; they are our
brothers and sisters who, with us, are
called to build a “city which is reliable”

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UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

MetM 19.
1. God does justice but redeems.
(We need but think of one corporal work of mercy: “to clothe the naked”
(cf. Mt 25:36, 38,43,44). This takes us back to the beginning, to the
Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and,
hearing the Lord approaching, felt shame and hid themselves (Gen 3:7-
8). We know that God punished them, yet he also “made for Adam and
for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them” (Gen 3:21). He
covered their shame and restored their dignity.)

61
UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

MetM 19.
2. We, the Church, restores the dignity of man. (Let
us think too of Jesus on Golgotha. The Son of God hangs naked on the cross;
the soldiers took his tunic and cast lots for it (cf. Jn 19:23-24). He has nothing
left. The cross is the extreme revelation of Jesus’ sharing the lot of those who
have lost their dignity for lack of the necessities of life. Just as the Church is
called to be the “tunic of Christ”[20] and to clothe her Lord once more, so She is
committed to solidarity with the naked of the world, to help them recover the
dignity of which they have been stripped. Jesus’ words, “I was naked and you
clothed me” (Mt 25:36), oblige us not to turn our backs on the new forms of
poverty and marginalization that prevent people from living a life of dignity.)

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UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

MetM 19.
3. Christian mercy responds above all with vigilance
and solidarity; You are not alone.
(Being unemployed or not receiving a sufficient salary; not being able to have a home or
a land in which to live; experiencing discrimination on account of one’s faith, race or
social status: these are just a few examples of many situations that attack the dignity of
the person. In the face of such attacks, Christian mercy responds above all with vigilance
and solidarity. How many situations exist today where we can restore dignity to
individuals and make possible a truly humane life! Let us think only about the many
children who suffer from forms of violence that rob them of the joy of life. I keep thinking
of their sorrowful and bewildered faces. They are pleading for our help to be set free
from the slavery of the contemporary world. These children are the young adults of
tomorrow. How are we preparing them to live with dignity and responsibility? With what
hope can they face their present or their future?)
63
UNLEASING THE CREATIVITY OF MERCY

MetM 19.
4. The social character of mercy demands that
we not simply stand by and do nothing.
(It requires us to banish indifference and hypocrisy, lest our plans and projects
remain a dead letter. May the Holy Spirit help us to contribute actively and
selflessly to making justice and a dignified life not simply clichés but a concrete
commitment of those who seek to bear witness to the presence of God’s
Kingdom.)

64
SPIRITUALITY OF

MERCY
 What is
Mercy ?
By group, make a role play video (based
from your own experience) on how you are
able to show mercy. (VLOG FORMAT)