“The Works of the Heart” – The Second Spiritual Work of Mercy

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

“The works of the heart” 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 deeply relevant.

The intention is to revisit these brief meditations on the fourteen works and update them in everyday life: what spazio + spadoni calls the “Re-Evolution of the works of mercy”.

Instruct the ignorant

The worst ignorance is that which concerns the most necessary knowledge: «what is the meaning of our very living; what is the destiny that ultimately awaits us; whether our coming into existence has as its premise and reason a design of love or blind chance» (G. Biffi).

We know more and more in depth an increasing number of aspects of the world, but we are losing the ability to understand reality. The Council reminds us: «Though mankind today is struck with wonder at its own discoveries and its power, it often raises anxious questions about the current trends of the world, about the place and role of man in the universe, about the meaning of its individual and collective strivings, and about the ultimate destiny of things and of humanity.

Hence, giving witness and voice to the faith of the whole people of God gathered together by Christ, this Council can provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with, as well as its respect and love for the entire human family with which it is bound up, than by engaging with it in conversation about these various problems.

The Council brings to mankind light kindled from the Gospel, and puts at its disposal those saving resources which the Church herself, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, receives from her Founder. For the human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed» (GS 3).

Image created digitally by spazio + spadoni

Source: Giulietti, P., Le opere del cuore