The Spiritual Works of Mercy – Counseling the Doubters
The Works of Mercy recommended by the Church do not have priority over one another, but all are of equal importance
How often have we given good or not-so-good advice superficially and how often have we received useless advice? Good advice arises from Mercy toward others and comes from sincere faith that generates wisdom, only then does counseling become a work of Mercy.
He had a big doubt the young man who asked Jesus for advice. “Master what good must I do to obtain eternal life?” Jesus listened, answered and concluded, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you own and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.”
Heinrich Hofmann (1824/1911) a German painter influenced by the old German, Dutch and Italian masters of the Renaissance, gives us a clear reading of this Gospel passage with this 1889 painting, now at the Riverside in New York. While the two protagonists, almost in half-light, are still inside a building, a small landscape space opens on the left side where a dazzling light dominates, a prelude to the “treasure in heaven.” Jesus gazes into the face of his interlocutor, who instead averts his gaze from him as he points to some poor people waiting outside the built-up area. The rich clothing of the young man, the modest attire of Christ, and the nudity of the poor man are also contrasting with each other because of a skillful play of color, of light and shadow that highlight more the gestures of the master who advises and invites perfection.
Siena, a beautiful Italian city that like a casket holds the 1730 Miracle of the Hosts, was the birthplace of St. Catherine on March 23, 1347. Twenty-third daughter of a dyer, from an early age she showed a stable faith and great love for Jesus, Our Lady and the holy Church, and it was precisely this that would soon lead her to advise, with great spiritual energy, what was good to do not only to humble people but even to the popes of her time.
Catherine at the age of sixteen had a vision of St. Dominic and took her vows as a Dominican tertiary. Soon the little room in her humble abode became a cenacle for learned, religious and highly educated citizens. It is Catherine’s great desire to dispense holy advice, but she is illiterate and asks the Lord if she can read to instruct herself in the sacred scriptures and celebrate Lauds. This is immediately and miraculously granted to her.
The Sienese Rutilio Manetti (1571/1639), author of this painting from 1630 in Figline Valdarno, wanted to capture an activity of the saint and depicted her at her desk while she wrote, even if she often dictated what she had to communicate because she wanted to maintain the mind and heart attentive to the will of God and the advice to be given. Here the white dress that frames her face, slightly inclined and attentive to what she is writing, definitely detaches her from the darkness of the room, while an unreal light seems to emanate. from his forehead and enhances the sweetness of a barely visible smile.
One of the scenes of family intimacy, which is described to us in the Gospel of Luke, tells of the invitation made to Jesus by Lazarus’ sisters. Jan Vermeer (1632/1675), Dutch painter, leading exponent of the Baroque, in the painting from 1656, exhibited at the National Gallery in Edinburgh, captures the very moment in which Martha, busy with preparations, turns to Jesus, while Mary is all intent on listening to the Master.
Jesus also listens carefully to the sincere words of Martha who looks at him hopefully, but points to her sister who is serenely pleased with what she hears at his feet. Christ’s response is advice for both sisters that removes all doubts not only from Martha, but from every Christian, because it invites them to always choose the best part of each work and to carry them out without worry and agitation. As Pope Francis says: it is contemplation that gives effectiveness to the work done for God, Mary in fact acts with courageous love when she always follows her Master.
In this work the observer seems involved in the conversation like a family member, in fact the characters have simple and usual attitudes. The light effects that highlight some significant details are surprising, the great refinement of the combination of colors and their shades is effective, the study of the effects of transparency and volumes that make this painting a masterpiece, worthy not only of being admired but meditated upon .
Saint Catherine constantly meditated and prayed, but like Mary and Martha there were many works of mercy that she carried out among people of all social classes. Among the pieces of advice that the world will remember with great admiration over the centuries is the beautiful letter sent to Pope Urban VI. In her letter, among other things, she says: “I Catherine, servant and slave of Jesus Christ, write to you in His most precious Blood, with the desire to see you founded in the true light…..This light brings with it the knife of hatred and of vice, love and virtue, which (knife) is a bond that binds the soul in God and in the direction of others. O Most Holy and Sweetest Father, this is the knife that I beg you to use. Now is your time to unsheath this knife, hate the vice in you and in your subjects and in the ministers of the Holy Church. In You I say, because in this life no one is without sin; and charity must first move from itself, use it first in itself with the affection of the virtues and in our neighbor… May your Holiness be pleased to regulate you according to what is required by the Divine Goodness, each in his own degree”.
St. Catherine uses strong expressions for her advice, which invite serious determination in choices and yet lets all her love and maternal tenderness shine through, these are the great teachings of the work of mercy perhaps more difficult to carry out, but with with God’s help everything is possible.
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