Classroom Activities

Works of Mercy

Over the next few months, the activities section will especially focus on the "works of mercy" from our Catholic Christian tradition. Each month will have four activities to explore a particular work of mercy that may be used with groups of young people.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us about cultivating these works of mercy: The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. [#2447]

In these coming months, let's be "practicing" Catholics - practicing our faith like we practice new sports skills, music skills, writing skills, art skills. It takes an investment of time and patience to make what we practice a part of us - but isn't creating a world on the order of what God dreams worth it? Our tradition offers ways to be disciples-in-training, learning to love through everyday choices. Let's practice then the art of mercy-working.

FEED THE HUNGRY

"The problem of hunger has a special significance for those who read the scriptures and profess the Christian faith. From the Lord's command to feed the hungry, to the Eucharist we celebrate as the bread of life, the fabric of our faith demands that we be creatively engaged in sharing the food that sustains life. There is no more basic human need."
--Economic Justice for All, U.S. Bishops, 1986

"We all share responsibility for the fact that populations are undernourished."
--Pope John XXIII, Allocution of 3 May 1960

We are all hungry. We all long for food, for love, for acceptance, for relationship. Many people in our world - children, youth and adults - know physical hunger every day. Our faith calls us to practice what we preach by feeding those who are hungry, and by remembering we are in relationship with all people and so have a responsibility to respond to one another's needs. Utilize the following activities and links to explore further this corporal work of mercy - the call to feed the hungry.

For the first three activities listed below, also work in concrete information on hunger and poverty which can be found in the fourth activity below. The fourth activity also provides additional activities that could be "next steps" after doing some of what is provided in the first three.

Feeding and Caring: It's Up to Us
Feeding the Hungry is a mark of a true disciple of Jesus.

It's All About the Bacon
Feeding the hungry is about giving out of who we are and what we need - not out of our surplus.

The Hungry Will Feed You
This activity includes a time of actual feeding of those who are hungry.

What, How, What Else?
Information on hunger and poverty, How to be involved in feeding the hungry, and supplemental activities or resources that can support practicing this work of mercy found on the web