We tend to think of the works of mercy in relation to a specific initiative eg hospitals for the sick, a meals program for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those seeking counsel and forgiveness.
However, in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis said, “When we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.”
“May the works of mercy also include care for our common home,” he said, explaining that care for creation “calls for a grateful contemplation of God’s world which allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us.”
He said the work of mercy which focuses on care for our common home “requires simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness and makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world.”
This echoes strongly with the call to Brigidines at this time to enter “into new and prophetic relationships with the evolving mystery of the universe, of Earth and of humanity in ever widening circles of love, compassion and justice.” (2016 Congregational Forum).