Saint Philip Neri, “the Second Apostle of Rome,” was well-known for his humorous and unusual penances, including one involving a chicken. His feast day is May 26 (superceded this year by Trinity Sunday).
How do we live and share our faith? Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, has a lot to teach us on his feast day, Jan. 24.
Part 21: In the next entry of his new weekly series on the Sacred Heart, Dr. Robert Stackpole explains how, even as we do works of mercy for our neighbors, we are doing them for the Lord and thereby consoling His Sacred Heart.
Turn to any page of St. Faustina's Diary, and you’ll find spiritual gems. Like this one …
Struggling financially is not a valid excuse to avoid performing works of mercy. Neither is being poor or uneducated, homebound, or in prison.
Unless the merciful love we are receiving from Jesus is overflowing from our hearts and pouring out upon others, then we are not yet authentic disciples.
Consider the rich man in the parable. I always wonder if he truly was a wicked, cold-hearted Scrooge who spat on poor Lazarus.
It is only by the mercy of God that the road to righteousness is open to us at all.
Let's take a walk through the corporal works of mercy and try to discern whether they are still possible to practice today, and if so, how we can do it.
Dr. Stackpole concludes his works-of-mercy series with that culinary and biblical metaphor for good reason.
