“The Works of the Heart” – The First Corporal Work of Mercy

A brief meditation by Archbishop Paolo Giulietti, Archbishop of Lucca, on the first corporal work of mercy, to live it concretely in everyday life.

«The works of the heart» is a booklet written by Monsignor 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 deeply relevant.

The aim is to re-read these brief meditations on the fourteen works and then make them relevant to everyday life: what spazio + spadoni calls the «Re-Evolution of the works of mercy».

Feed the hungry

We produce enough food to feed all the inhabitants of the earth, yet waste, inefficiency, and speculation cause nearly 800 million people to still suffer from hunger, while about one in nine people is malnourished. Even in «rich countries», the economic crisis has created difficult situations: in Italy, the number of families forced to reduce food consumption or rely on food distributed by Caritas is growing.

Conversely, obesity is increasing, causing numerous diseases: globally, it has doubled since 1980. In 2008, there were more than 1.4 billion overweight adults and more than 500 million obese adults (11% of the world’s population). In Italy, 32% of adults are overweight, while 11% are obese.

Caring for the hungry today means working towards a fairer distribution of resources, promoting sharing, fighting food waste, and adopting a more sober lifestyle for oneself and one’s family. Such behaviors make it possible to respond more effectively to emergency situations, but above all to address the root causes of hunger.

Image created digitally by spazio + spadoni

Source: Giulietti, P., The works of the heart