“The works of the heart” – The seventh spiritual work of mercy

A brief meditation by Msgr. Paolo Giulietti, Archbishop of Lucca, on the seventh spiritual work of mercy, to live it concretely in daily life.

“Le opere del cuore” is a booklet written by Msgr. Paolo Giulietti on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy convoked in 2015, when he was still auxiliary bishop of Perugia and Città della Pieve.

Ten years have passed, but the reflections of the current Archbishop of Lucca regarding the works of mercy remain timely.

The intention is to revisit these brief meditations on the fourteen works to update them in daily life: what spazio + spadoni calls the “ReEvolution of the works of mercy”.

Praying to God for the living and the dead

To intercede means to “take a step between”, to stand in the middle between two parties.

In intercessory prayer, another person is presented to God with love, expressing fraternity, and God’s will is welcomed with faith, expressing sonship. We do not have to convince God, because he «knows what we need»; it is instead a matter of welcoming others and their needs illuminated by the will of God.

Prayer for the living and the dead therefore manifests solidarity and compassion for our brothers and sisters. God attaches great value to it: it is indeed through others that his grace ordinarily reaches us, starting from the fundamental relationship with Jesus, our “advocate” before the Father. It is the reality of the “communion of saints”: we need the love of our brothers and sisters, in the things of this world and in those of the Spirit.

Intercessory prayer is a work complementary to all the others, because mercy, for the believer, is action and prayer. From this spring the motivation and energy to take care of our brothers and sisters; through it, one shares in the painful experiences of others, allowing the person praying to partake in the very gaze of God, “clement and merciful”.

Image created digitally by spazio + spadoni

Source: Giulietti, P., Le opere del cuore