Thornhill Ministries

Responding to the Hunger for God in Our Time

Tel: 028 7135 1233

www.thornhillministries.co.uk email:secretary@thornhillministries.co.uk

YEAR OF MERCY

An Awareness and Consciousness

FEELING

MERCY-ING......

WONDERING

The logo of the Year of Mercy, presents us with the image of Christ, the Good Shepherd, carrying a person on His shoulders. In the image, the person is held so close by Christ that the person actually takes on the eye of Christ. Christ's right eye and the person's left eye are one.

As we prepare ourselves for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we might like to spend a while contemplating this image.

EXAMINE BASED ON CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY

To attend to the needs of those who are hungry

Have I given food to anyone who is suffering from hunger?
Do I support the work of St Vincent de Paul Society or Trocaire?
Have I wasted any food in this last while?
Have I invited anyone to my home for food or donated to a food bank?
What about the kinds of conversations I have with others?
Do my words nourish those who hunger for guidance?
Do I starve those who crave the food of gossip?

To attend to the needs of those who are thirsty

What about my use of water?
Do I consciously turn off taps or ensure there is a plug in the sink to keep from wasting water?
What have I done to assist or am I even aware of peoples and places in the world that are suffering drought?
What about those who thirst for recognition from me?
Has my tap of compliments and supportfor others dried up?
Do I refresh others with words of acceptance and understanding?

To attend to the needs of those who are naked

Do I judge others by their dress?
Can I look with the eyes of Christ and see the person in the street beggar, see the dignity of someone even though their clothes are shabby?
Does my wardrobe have clothes that I never wear that could clothe the naked?
What about those who are stripped of dignity?
Do I give others the clothes of respect?

To attend to the needs of those who are captive

Have I ever visited a prisoner or written a letter to anyone in prison?
Have I ever given a break to someone who cannot get out of their house because they are a full-time carer?
Have I ever visited someone imprisoned by dementia?
What support have I been to someone who is locked into a difficult situation?
Do I allow others to change?
How am I about holding grudges?
Do I have the capacity to accept an apology?
Can I free myself to make apology/to accept the good points of people I have had difficulty with?

To attend to the needs of those who are homeless

What contribution have I ever made to those who have no home?
Have I ever given hospitality to someone who has no place left in life that they can call 'home'?
Have I ever shut the door physically or metaphorically on another?
Have I ever made anyone feel 'not at home' with me because of my opinions and attitude?
Has anyone felt excluded by my words or actions?

To attend to the needs of those who have died

Have I been respectful of those who have died?
Do I ever visit the grave of a departed loved one?
Do I remember to offer a prayer from time to time for those who have passed away from this life?
Do I sustain my support for someone who is coping with grief?
Am I able to bury respectfully relationships with the living that, for whatever reason, have died?

From Matthew 25 we remember the words that "as long as you did it to the least, you did it to me.