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

A brief meditation by Msgr. Paolo Giulietti, Archbishop of Lucca, on the third 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 as relevant as ever.

The intention is to reread these short meditations on the fourteen works and make them relevant in daily life: what spazio + spadoni calls the “Re-Evolution of the works of mercy”.

Admonishing sinners

Are we still capable of reprimanding someone? Uncertain about what is right and what is wrong, we struggle to recognize evil and to help those who commit it.

The culture of “harm reduction” or “what harm is there?” has indeed substituted compromise for the demanding pursuit of the good: as if sin were inevitable and one could only limit its conflicts and damages.

In deference to “political correctness”, moreover, the very names of certain wrong behaviors are adjusted so as to soften the sense of inadequacy and limitation that evil inevitably carries with it: from “womb for rent” to “surrogate motherhood”; from “abortion” to “voluntary termination of pregnancy”…

Thus, those who err are abandoned to themselves, for the sake of an easy life or out of an indifference fueled by a dramatic ethical uncertainty.

Both the “paternal” admonition of those with the right and duty to offer it by virtue of a position of responsibility, and the “fraternal” correction of those who can leverage a bond of friendship, are lost.

There is no mercy in closing one’s eyes to evil and leaving others in their error.

Image created digitally by spazio + spadoni

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