Doing Little Works of Mercy

AS FAR as I can remember, from my elementary and high school religion classes, there are seven corporal works of mercy.

One unforgettable experience I had in feeding the hungry was when I was still a Philosophy student in the seminary. One time I was approached by a little boy, a street child, asking for money. When I asked him what he would do with the money, he told me that he will use it to buy food. Hesitant to give him money because he might not use it to buy food, I asked him to come with me and I bought him a doughnut. And to my surprise, the moment he stepped out of the store, he broke the doughnut into small pieces and shared it with the other street children.

We probably had experiences of giving clothes to the needy, especially after calamities like typhoons. But during relief operations, when we sort out clothes donated for victims of calamities, we often see old clothes, which often cannot be worn anymore. Most of the times, the old clothes are more like rags than wearable wardrobe. And how can I ever forget seeing bacon-like garters of worn out briefs or men’s underwear! I think we should stop asking for old clothes as donations for victims of calamities. We should start asking for new clothes, rather than old clothes, if we really want to help clothe the naked.

I spent about five years celebrating Sunday masses at the home for the aged of the Missionaries of Charity in Tayuman, Manila. The home is divided into two wards: one for the males and another for the females. The elderly, who are in their sixties and seventies, or even eighties and nineties, were homeless or abandoned people whom the sisters of Mother Teresa’s congregation found in the streets of Manila. Every Sunday after the mass, a group of young people who call themselves “Lingkod ng Panginoon” (roughly translated as Servants of the Lord) would assist the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity in feeding the elderly. Some of them are afflicted with tuberculosis, pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease or some other illnesses. Some are simply in their old age and in the stage of senility. It is really heartwarming to see young people taking care and doing their share in feeding the elderly.

For several years in the past, I have also celebrated masses for inmates of Manila City jail. The compound of the city jail is divided by two walls where an alley in the middle leads to the Christian chapel. There are gangs among the inmates, which they refer to as “pangkat”. The most notorious gangs in Manila City jail are Sputnik, Sige-sige and Batang City Jail. The walls in the middle of the compound somehow help to prevent riots between gangs from occurring. The inmates in the city jail are awaiting their sentence, depending on their case. Once convicted of a major criminal offense, an inmate is then transferred to the National Penitentiary. When I handled a Theology class in Letran College in Manila, I asked my students to come with me and visit the prisoners, to at least experience and see for themselves what the prisoners go through.

In the poor and remote islands of the Babuyan group, where majority of the population are either fishermen or farmers, one of the wealth they consider is their family. Families of fishermen and farmers have an average of six to eight members. This is probably because families in these islands, as in any other poor locality, need more hands to take care of their farms or to provide sustenance for the entire family. That is why the passing away of a family member, especially the children, may be the saddest event of their lives. For people who have literally nothing, their family members are their only wealth. I have seen families in extreme sorrow every time we bury the dead. No amount of comforting words can take away their grief.

CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY

1. Feed the hungry.
2. Give drink to the thirsty.
3. Clothe the naked.
4. Shelter the homeless.
5. Comfort the prisoners.
6. Visit the sick.
7. Bury the dead.

SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY

1. Teach the ignorant.
2. Pray for the living and dead.
3. Correct sinners.
4. Counsel those in doubt.
5. Console the sorrowful.
6. Bear wrongs patiently.
7. Forgive wrongs willingly.