Our hands are God’s instruments in the world, as we work to bring about his Kingdom here on earth. As we love God with our hearts and heads, we then want to love God in our brothers and sisters, not only through our thoughts, but our deeds as well.

St. James tells us that faith without works is dead. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

Our Lord Jesus was very clear when he said that in serving the least of our brothers and sisters, we serve him. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

We want to learn how we can love Jesus in the poor among us. There are two types of poverty, material and spiritual. Both need attention, so that is why our Catholic tradition has seven corporal works of mercy and seven spiritual works of mercy.

The Corporal Works of Mercy focus on the deeds done to serve God and show his radiance to the world—feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead. The Spiritual Works of Mercy bring God’s message to others through prayer and example—admonishing the sinner, instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, comforting the sorrowful, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving all injuries, and praying for the living and the dead.

In this section of the website, we focus on sharing our radiance in the love of God with others, by being Christ for them, by acting out our faith in the manner Jesus teachers. We want to love God in our neighbor and in the world.

Explore all the pages within this section: Work as Prayer, Works of Mercy and Works of Beauty and join us daily to learn how to reach out and love God in our neighbor!